Fun With Play-doh

Published on March 8, 2005 By JillUser In Home & Family

Dharma's blog about seeing things through a child's eyes really got me thinking about my life. I am sure I am criticized by other women in my neighborhood because my house is such a mess more often than not. Here's why I pity them, they don't get it. They are missing out on the fun because they are so worried about their house being in show-worthy condition.

We live in our house. There are legos all over the living room floor, play-doh is all over our kitchen island right now and we are having fun! Yesterday we had fun with paper, crayons and little gizmos that punch different shapes out of the paper. My kids had the idea of coloring the paper in different patterns before punching the shapes out. I wouldn't have thought of that.

My house is a total mess in the process but nothing an hour or so of cleaning wouldn't fix. Plus, my kids tend to clean up after themselves. Some of my neighbor's kids don't know what it is like to clean up because their parents are either constantly cleaning as they go or simply won't let them make a mess in the first place.

A neighbor girl was over when my sons were playing with play-doh and I thought her head would explode when they mixed up the colors. What fun is it if you can't mix the colors? I told her we can always either buy or make more so just have fun with it. Needless to say, she had a great time.

I am going to get back to making aliens out of play-doh with my 4yr old. The laundry will still be waiting for me. I figure that if I were to die, I doubt I would look back and think "I sure wish I would have kept a cleaner house".

Comments

Zoomba

on Mar 08, 2005

Bravo for being a good mom who has her priorities straight!

My house when I was growing up is exactly like you described yours. Toys everywhere, and tons of fun being had. My parents even semi-finished the basement so my sister and I had an entire floor of the house essentially to play around in. Play-doh, drawings, finger paints... We spent our childhood having fun. Our house was the house all the neighborhood kids came to to play because all the other parents had limits on how many friends were allowed inside at a time, which rooms were allowed, and how many toys we could take off the shelf at one time. Forget having 5 or 6 kids in one of their houses playing with G.I. Joes marching through a wood-block fortress and lego defence turrets. Too many kids, too many toys, too much mess, too much noise.

It always seemed to me like other parents felt more encumbered than anything else by their children. They scheduled everything in their home and allowed virtually no departure from the routine. My mom has told me many times since I moved away (first to college, then after college for a job) that she really misses having my friends and I around all the time. I can even remember in High School sitting around the kitchen table with her and a group of my friends just joking around and having a great time... often until the early hours of the morning. Even then, my friends parents would kick us out at 8 because they wanted peace and quiet. It wasn't much fun to go to other peoples houses because the focus was more on looking good and acting proper than relaxing and enjoying yourself.

I salute you Jill, you've got the right idea. You'll find in later years your house will be the congregation point for your kids and their friends. You'll be the "cool" mom if only for the reason that you're not uptight like all the other parents.

Dynosoar

on Mar 08, 2005

How can I get your point across to my wife ???

She constantly worries about this mess or that mess, and heaven help if her mother plans to visit.....

Danny Bassette

on Mar 08, 2005

Clean houses do have their uses, but fun houses are even better

Have fun with your play-doh

JillUser

on Mar 08, 2005

and heaven help if her mother plans to visit

I used to think that way. I started telling people that if they want to come see us, drop by any time. If they want to come see the house, they have to call ahead.

My hubby used to get uptight when he would come home from work and the house would be a mess. He thought that it meant I didn't respect how hard he worked all day enough to have things tidy for when he got home. I then pointed out that our house cycles through messy and clean several times a day and that I would have to know what time he would be home in order to have it clean. So now we have an agreement that unless he lets me know ahead of time what time he will be home, he will never know what shape the house will be in when he gets there.

dharmagrl

on Mar 08, 2005

Jill....my house is lived in too. I cannot stand the stress that comes with having to have everything in it's place all the time. I've been around people like that before, it scares me to visit them. I sit on the sofa all uptight, afraid to move because I might disturb something whilst they stress about having things 'perfect'. I personally can live with having a bed go unmade until lunchtime, I can handle toys and books on the coffee table....I don't need my ornaments all lined up and my books alphabetically shelved. It's just not that important to me. I'd rather spend an afternoon playing with my kids than an afternoon ironing my towels (yes, I know folks who do that).

Life is meant to be lived, not spent worrying about your house being immaculate.

JillUser

on Mar 08, 2005

My mom has told me many times since I moved away (first to college, then after college for a job) that she really misses having my friends and I around

I know I will be like your mom. I enjoy the chaos and maybe that is what sets moms like yours and myself apart. I have kids because I enjoy them. I play with them, enjoy watching and listening to them and can't stand the silence when they are gone for too long. Don't get me wrong, I love a few hours to myself every once in a while but I will have a lot of years ahead of me to myself.

I don't care if I am "cool" but I certainly hope my kids have friends over to enjoy themselves and know they are welcome here.

Clean houses do have their uses, but fun houses are even better Have fun with your play-doh

I agree and I do enjoy having a clean house. If I know we are having company, I put a lot of effort into having the house clean and the kids understand that. I just don't worry about it being in top form all the time just in case someone drops by. That is too much stress!

Sugar High Elf

on Mar 08, 2005

Amen! That's about all I can say.

JillUser

on Mar 08, 2005

I'd rather spend an afternoon playing with my kids than an afternoon ironing my towels (yes, I know folks who do that).

That made me laugh out loud because I have an aunt that does that. She even trained my uncle to wipe down the shower every time he used it so the condensation wouldn't cause any mold or mildew. He has tons of money but uses a styrofoam cup with his name written on it to drink coffe all day so as to not dirty the dishes. Crazy!!

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