Sometimes We Need to Embrace the Mess...

I sat on a phone call listening to my child scream. He was mad. I am used to working through it. I can tune out his screaming...which doesn't happen a lot but when he gets his mind set on something he can be relentless. And I understand the person on the other end of the phone most likely isn't used to a screaming child interrupting their phone calls.

In this particular moment Everett was thinking he needed to put dishwasher soap in the dishwasher. He wasn't believing me when I was telling him "You just put the soap in the dishwasher, remember." I had opened the door a couple of times and showed him the closed soap dispenser. I even opened it up once for him to see the soap in the tray. It still wasn't good enough. He followed me back over to my work area and insisted on pulling at me.

I had a decision to make...do I keep listening to him scream and make the person on the phone feel like I can't do what I am needing to do right now...when the reality is I can and will make it a priority to have the conversation we were having...or do I stop and embrace the moment in a different way?

So we sat on the floor of the kitchen...

We opened the door of the dishwasher...

And we played in the dishwasher soap...

While I finished my phone call.

There was pure joy on his face and you could see the curiosity in his eyes as he lifted his fingers and observed the soap on his fingers before dipping them into the soap again.

Had it been worth the fight that now I felt like I had "given into." There are things that should be absolutely worth the fight. Like the one we had later when he wanted to continue to play in the running water of the sink after an already long session. Or the one we had after that when he wanted more marshmallows after being told he had had enough.

But this fight...this didn't need to be like that...this just needed to be mom letting him explore.

The mess could be cleaned up easily...

more soap could be added if needed...

and I was observing closely so no harm was going to be done.

Take the time to let things be messy. Apologize for the crazy if you feel like you need to but embrace the beauty of the literal messy moments. Sometimes we just need to stop and play in the dish soap.

After our dishwasher endeavor the mess moved to the sink to clean him up. The kid is

big and I knew this was going to take longer than I wanted to smash him against the counter trying to hold him up and one handedly rinse his hands. So for the first time ever I drug out our step stool. The excitement of standing at the sink for the first time on a stool...meant fun at the sink. I wanted to fight it. The mess he was going to make with the water. . The extra time it was going to take to wash the few dishes left in the sink because...well...he's 1 and he doesn't know how to wash dishes...it was just going to be playing. He so badly wanted to be up there and "helping." And then I took a deep breath and thought to myself...

In reality...how long is it going to take me to clean up the extra mess? How much extra time is it going to add to me doing the dishes? Is this a time when he is learning just the practice of being at the sink for dishes? I really don't know if that last question is a thing or not but maybe? And if so, am I encouraging or teaching him...it's just easier if I do it?

*FYI what you don't see in the pictures is the 3 towels on the floor under him that had already been used on the counter to sop up several floods already.

One of my favorite sayings is...

My house isn't messy it is merely lived in.

We try to keep things clean...we try to vacuum every day...we try to keep the dishes done through the day...and we pick up. Some weeks that's as good as it gets...AND THAT'S OKAY!! Embrace the mess of these times...just like the messes in our lives grow us and teach us and make us who we are...the messes are doing the same for our kids....they are just literal messes that we get to help clean up.