Is it a mess or art?

Today, like so many other days here lately, I woke up way too early and my mind automatically went into hyperdrive. What can we do inside these walls that will keep Sassy happy, entertained, maybe teach her something and still be flexible enough to allow for the ongoing potty training. And today I decided we would paint and color and glue and (brace yourself if you are "green") waste as much paper as we wanted. So we got online and printed out color sheets for princesses, Dora, Tinkerbell, Clifford, Curious George. Then we got out anything that would leave a colorful mark, make a cut or messily attatch one piece of paper to another. And let the madness begin. Much to my surprise, the mess never left her Little Tykes picnic table (except for the small amount of paint on her dress). And for hours she sat there, saying "I do self mama" if I got too close to acting like I might try to step in. I was amazed that here she is barely 2.5 years old and so into a hobby. She loves crafts. I guess it comes from a long line of crafters. But the truely amazing part is who she seems to become when she enters the Michaels in her head. She is calm, quiet, so very focused, frustrated when it doesn't turn out the way she wanted it to, and she re-enters our world so proud and excited of her work. She will sit for at least 5 minutes and explain how she drew Mickey Mouse and his friends and house. And even though it is just a bunch of scribbles to me, to her it is a huge accomplishment, so we celebrate with her.

Isn't that one of our many jobs as parents? We look onto our children's successes or failures and try our best to see them from their point of view before we make any judgements. Because what may look like a giant mess in your child's room may really be a giant fort that took all day and alot of work to get "just right" and they are proud of it. So before we become too quick to judge, take a look at you childs mess and ask, is it a mess or a work of art. And if it is a mess, feel free to tell them to clean it before you do...with a lawn trash bag and the local thrift store. And if it is a piece of work, hug them and tell them good job! We were all there once, we just have to remember what it was like to be little.

Can't wait for her pictures to print.

Tired of waiting for pictures to print!!!!