The upside of getting dirty

Photo by Martina Frietsch

As adults, we often watch kids as they frolic through their days and think,
Tiny creeps! You don't know how good you've got it!

It's just me? Oh.

I've been reflecting on parenting and how I really need to develop more patience and flexibility. What I've noticed is that it isn't always easy to be a kid.

Grown-ups have a lot of expectations when it comes to kids and behavior and not getting muddy. Which totally sucks, if you're a kid.

My little family went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. The weather was perfect, the lines  for amusements were short, the corn maze wasn't too children-of-the-corn-like, and the pumpkins were -- well, pumpkin-y.

On our way to visit the working beehive, Little Man was so excited, he ran through a ditch filled shin-high with muck.

Twice.

He was spoken to about the resulting muddy state of his shoes, pants, back of his shirt -- let's face it, his entire being.

I watched as his pumpkin-patch high fell steeply into the depths of the same ditch he was still standing in. It made my heart ache.

Of course, he didn't see the ditch in front of him. All he saw was the hut that held the bees.

What I realize now, which I neglected to tell him then, is that I love him because he is the kind of person who doesn't let muddy ditches get in the way. He blindly charges through life's difficult bits, confident he can reach his goal.

I love his single-minded determination, despite feeling less than warm-'n-fuzzy about the muddy laundry I now face.

I also need to say to my daughter, who is similar to me in many ways,
Don't let the ditches slow you down. Sometimes, sweet girl, we need to stop thinking and jump in the muck. 

That's why soap was invented.