I am really sick today. And I napped while the kids napped. Which is soooo unusual. But soooo needed. And when I woke up, when they woke up, Oprah was on so I gave them chocolate milk+snack and laid back down on the couch. Knowing full well there would be a mess somewhere in the house if I left them alone for an hour, but not caring one single bit because my head felt like it would explode if I got up. So I laid there. And watched Oprah. And said yes to any question they asked me, not really paying any kind of attention to what they were asking but knowing a “yes” answer would get them away from me faster. Did I mention my head was about to explode? Seriously.
Eventually I got up and found them. Bailey was coloring, Parker was doing an art project and Gray was moving between the two rooms scattering things as he went.
And there was a mess.
Pretzels all over the floor, buttons scattered everywhere, glue and modge podge dripping, crayons scattered on the floor. And I almost freaked. I almost made them stop what they were doing and clean up.
But then I remembered THIS blog post I read yesterday.
And I slowed down.
And I watched.
And I grabbed the camera.
And I started capturing the moment.
The moment when my sweet little 3 year old got my glitter modge podge down off my table, got her little cup out of the drawer, unscrewed the cap, poured the glue, got a paint brush, found my jar of buttons and started creating.
All by herself while I laid sick on the sofa and watched tv.
And as I snapped I watched her. Her concentration. Her thoughtfulness.
Her creating. Her joy.
And I remembered we can clean up the mess later.
There is always time to clean.
So I watched my little man put buttons in and dump them back out.
I watched the girls laugh together.
Create together.
And through the fog of my cold I had never been happier we turned our dining room into an art room.
With art supplies at their finger tips whenever they want them. Even the messy ones like scissors and glue and modge podge and glitter and markers.
And do they make messes? Am I cleaning that room up everyday? Do I find crayons all over our house? Have our walls been colored on and hair been cut and glue been spilled? YES.
But what’s the first thing my kids do when they can do anything they want?
They create.
And if I didn’t let them make messes everyday things like this may never have come to be. This beautiful picture Bailey drew of herself with “Mommy I drew my eyes! Do you see them?…one is hazel one is blue, you are pretty, I love you…”
I write this because I might have missed this today. I was on the verge of missing it actually because my eyes focused initially on the mess. And I was sick and tired and angry at the mess. But luckily I remembered Becky’s words and I instead picked up my camera. And I just thank God that I did.
Wishing you a happy weekend of noticing. Of letting them create. Of accepting the mess. The beautiful creative mess.
Thank You for the reminder!!!!
Oh Jod, I needed this today. The mess is killing me and I need to just let it go. If Taryn were to see this she’d want to come live with you, no kidding.
Now if I can just get over the mess my husband creates, cause there is nothing creative about THAT!
This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read! Thanks for the reminder, I tend to focus and obsess about the mess!!!!! Hope you feel better!
i love that you had a great day despite the not great head…so glad you shared this!
i believe truly one of the hardest parts of motherhood is ‘letting it go’.
i have a group of friends and we encourage each other to ‘let it go’!!
life’s too short to always focus on the mess. and i remind myself that daily (:
i love how parker is wearing bailey’s shirt. classic.
that’s so funny- i just unpacked our craft boxes (finally! we moved at Thanksgiving!), and my almost 4 year old has been creating non-stop for 2 days. i feel SO bad that i left those things packed away! i am definitely setting them up in the family room so the girls have access to them all the time. messes come & go, but she’ll only be 4 years old once!
hope you’re feeling better & enjoying the warmer temps!
rachel
You are giving me a great idea of what to do with our dining room. my husband and i were just standing there saying how we never use it. it’s just our dumping ground! and i’ve been wondering where i can put art stuff somewhere where my son and i can get to it easily. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!! thank you! love the pics. always good to stop and take time to notice the great things, especially with little ones.
gosh you blow my mind.
you are so right on, jodie. that “mess” is beautiful! and how happy are you that you captured it!?… just the other day i posted something a little the same about taking the time to capture the everyday moments i seem to take for granted, those simple moments that are passing oh, so quickly in my children’s lives. thank you for the inspiration! xo, liz ps- what a wonderful thing you and kim are doing with fresh reflection!
LOVE this post – so inspiring. The mess and the kids are awesome. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the reminder. I am Queen of cleaning up messes (and trying not to let them happen in the first place). Sometimes you just have to let them happen, even encourage them to happen. I think we might just be making some messes tomorrow…
karlee loved the pics of parker! she said yesterday, out of the blue, “mom, i have a friend named parker did you know that?” to which i said yes and she said…”i love parker mom she is a pink friend.” and i said…”so true karlee, so true.”