Mess Magicians

My kids feel so good about making messes... it's fun to watch them -- when they don't know they're being watched! Their imaginations lead them through fantastic adventures that leave a trail of toys behind them.
Oh, and if dinner doesn't taste good, it makes good fodder for finger plays, if you ask my three-year-old!

Here is just one of the many, many pictures of one of my little mess-makers!

 I've had to come to terms with the fact that messes are simply a part of life. Mind you, messes are NOT limited to life with children. Plenty of us grown-up-types are still pretty-darn-good at making messes.

While it's nice to avoid messes as much as possible, sometimes it's not possible, in which case you might as well look for the gold nuggets in the mud of life! My sweet daughters are illustrating this concept for you (during a field trip to This is the Place Heritage Park):

Gotta be gold in all this mud...

Sure, I'll play in the mud even though I'm wearing a dress!

 And here is a picture of my little mess-maker CLEANING UP! Ahhh, an action worth remembering!

Appreciating moments like these inspired me to treat messes a little differently. Rather than waste my energy on being annoyed/disappointed/frustrated/mad with all of the messes, I decided to focus my energy on calmly teaching the little one how to become a

MESS-MAGICIAN and make the mess disappear! 

It turned it into a game rather than a punishment... this is something both of us can appreciate in the family dynamics of keeping the peace!

Heck, if ya have a hat to add to the atmosphere -- ABRA-CA-DABRA and PRESTO!!!

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