By Leah Spina
Babiesbrand toddlers can mess up a house faster than a hiccup. Each day it looks like abrprimary-colored plastic hurricane blasted my house. But instead of resentingbrthe chaos, try viewing the messes as reminders of how wonderful it is to bebrwith little people each day!Here are some of my favorite messes – maybe it willbrhelp you look at your messy, child-dominated house a little differently!
1.brThe little food and dirt smudges on the shoulder of my shirt at the end of thebrday. Aw, those little chubbybrhands grasping their mama as she holds the baby. I love that I was either toobrbusy or didn’t care when I chose to pick up that little angel. These are thebrhappiest days of my life!
2.brBooks splattered all over the couch and floor. There is nothing I love more thanbrpicture books and board books sprinkled everywhere. It means I stopped my daybrto sit down with my two little darlings and we shared stories, laughter andbrfun. I think of my toddler “reading” the books to himself after we finish inbrhis high voice and jumbled grammar. I think of my baby holding a book like thebrstatue of liberty over her head babbling so I will read to her.
3.brBroken sand toys AND regular toys all over the backyard. I don’t see a mess. I see the beautifulbraftermath of long days full of imagination and slow child’s play. Here’s wherebrbaby Esther showed me seven different toys she found – since she can’t talk,brshe shows. There’s where Batman had it out with the Transformers in the sandboxbrfor an hour.
4.brToys all in the bathtub.Sometimes it is hard for me to relax after a day of parenting a baby and abrtoddler because I am so wound up. So sometimes I opt for a bath postbrchildren-bedtime. Before I draw the water, I always clean out at least 10 smallbrmonster trucks, a couple of ducks and a few miscellaneous toys. As I pull thembrout, I smile thinking of the happy hours we spend together in this bathroom –brme sitting on the grey chair watching my babies splash and play in the bubbles.brSamson rolling his beloved tracks around and around the rim of the bathtub andbrbaby Esther sucking a white washcloth. Yes, they take their baths in my bathtubbrinstead of theirs but I would have it no other way!
5.brToys at the bottom of the shower.When my husband or I decide to take a daytime shower, one of the children begsbrto join us – Samson incessantly pleads and wordless baby Esther keeps pullingbrat her clothes and diaper to show us. When I take a shower by myself, I alwaysbrsmile as I scoop the toys to the side with my foot. I think of the littlebrgleaming wet bodies and the fun hooded-towel aftermath. I think of how the kidsbrlove to apply too much lotion because it is too much fun to use a pumpbrdispenser. And how my toddler and I laugh our heads off when the baby smashesbrlotion in her hair. Every. Single. Time.
6.brMy messy closet. Ibrhave a big closet and my children love to both play in it or just be RIGHT bybrme when I dress. At the end of the day, I stop to review with a happy sigh thebrsix unmatched shoes baby Esther tried to wear, the three dresses on the floorbrbecause Samson likes to hide behind the hanging clothes cave, the socks from abrsock war scattered everywhere, etc. What a boring closet I will have some day –brI love these messes!
7.brBack porch mess. Ourbrback porch is small and messy. We have some chairs and a table but they arebralways covered by fun memories. There’s the new special kinetic sand on thebrtable with a few sand toys, tiny swim suits and towels drying on the chairs, abrbug “jail” that Esther likes to hang around her neck, a dirty diaper because Ibrlet the kids play in the hose, popsicle wrappers from hot summer afternoon andbra pile of shoes because we like to take our shoes off to *wee-LAX*, as Samsonbrsays.
8.brCar mess. We eatbrsnacks in the car, we drink in the car, we play in the car. When I take my carbrto the car wash, I feel I should shove armfuls of $5 bills in the tip box. Ibrshudder to think what they find. Who knows what kind of food has baked underbrthe seats? All I know is they return a beautifully clean car with 17 missingbrtoys stacked neatly on the seat between the two car seats. But what a lovelybrmess! When I look back I see Esther’s favorite little lovie blanket and I thinkbrof her sucking her thumb with it, smiling at me. I cannot see her smile becausebrit’s hidden by the blanket but I see her eyes looking into mine and I knowbrshe’s smiling. I see the plastic boy toys everywhere and think of Samson’sbrcreative play with an occasional sacrifice toy to the whining baby. Who wants abrclean car?
9.brToys all over the house.Keeping a house clean with children is like shoveling snow when it’s snowing.brLast night I stepped on three different toys on my bedroom floor in the dark onbrthe way to bed. I smiled at each painful step. I love that my little childrenbrwant to be with me all the time. They are my constant shadows throughout thebrday and leave a toy trail from our adventures. Downstairs I see two tiny pairsbrof shoes next to David’s flip flops – they represent the Three Happiest Thingsbrin my life! Don’t get mad at the mess – use it to remind you of how gratefulbryou are for the gift of family!
10.brKitchen mess. Mybrkitchen is almost always messy. There are primary-colored sippy cups strewn allbrover the counters, floor and table. Spills on the floor from little eaters. Butbrwhen I stumble downstairs in the morning and see three toys on the kitchenbrfloor, I make myself stop and savor that sight. My children and I spend manybrhours together in the kitchen. They are my little cook assistants (hurrah forbrthe mess, mama! You included them even though it made a mess and took twice asbrlong!), my little tasters (that’s why you have toys to pass the time betweenbrtastings!) and my fellow dining patrons (look at the three messy place mats andbrdominated high chair – how boring if it were clean and set for one!) Andbrpossibly my favorite: the smudges all over the windows from little dirty handsbrlooking outside and trying to push open the door. I almost don’t want to cleanbrthem.
Try tobrview the messes around you as beautiful flowers of love, happiness and family.brOur young children will grow up before we know it and our house will someday bebrclean and lonely. Let's revel in the chaos, smile at the craziness and kiss ourbrtiny mess-makers a little more.
Photo via Flickr.
Leah Spinabris a former journalist of a national newsweekly turned stay-at-home mom tobrthree children, age five and under. She lives in the Dallas area with herbrhusband, David, and is a speaker to mom groups and conferences. Her new book Stopbrand Smell Your Children: Laugh and Enjoy the Little Years helps parents tobrenjoy, not just endure, the little years by changing their parentingbrperspective. Visit leahspina.com to sign-up for Leah’s free weekly parentingbrblog and video. You can also follow her on Instagram (leahthespina) andbrFacebook. When Leah is not burning macaroni and cheese, she enjoys singingbrItalian opera, riding horses and drinking inordinate amounts of Starbucksbrcoffee.