pladough

This morning my children wanted to play playdough. I love for them to express their creativity and playdough is my daughters favorite activity. However, it is one of the more messy activities that goes on here at our house. So while I watched from the kitchen sink where i enjoyed the fun chore of washing dishes, nicolas and amy spread out over the kitchen table.... In minutes they had opened every single jar of playdough in the house. I may sound anal but i prefer for them to choose one color at a time so that they don't all mix together and i reminded them of this.

I left my two little monsters for a minute while I ran upstairs to change a load of laundry....from the laundry room i heard screams and laughter and I smiled to myself that they were playing together so well. A few minutes later as I came back down the stairs I realized that the house was silent. I froze mid step and listened....not becuase I was afraid something was wrong but because I know my little devils and the mischeif that they can create..... In my house silence means that they are up to something.... tip toeing down the stairs I peaked around the corner..nothing... down the hallway....into the dining room... HA they had already heard me and I was overtaken by two screaming little creatures rushing me from under the table.... On top of the table was a colorful mesh of playdough, embedded with every action figure / barbie doll they could find.

My first instinct is to be annoyed...all of that playdough mixed into some kind of putrid concotion... I quickly calculated just how long it was going to take me to pick it out of the tiny crevices of barbie doll toes and Ninja turtle swords.... Then I saw the grinning faces of my children. So proud of there masterpiece. So proud of sneaking up on mommy; my heart melted.

So today i spent the morning with playdough and action figures. It was messy and yucky and fun. It is easy to forget the joy of creating when we are adults. Caught up in the monotony and work of everyday life we forget the joy of squishing playdough between our fingers. They fun of molding something wonderful and then smashing it to a flat puddle and then starting over again.

Measured by the things that I crossed off of my to do list this was an unproductive morning. But measured by they joy in my childrens eyes and then relaxing of mommies heart it was imeasurable. For a few hours I wasn't mommy with rules and chores and caution. I was a kid with them, creating and discoverying, laughing and being silly.

It is so important as parent to step back from the rush of life sometimes and really play with our kids. Get our hands dirty and laugh with them. To remember what it felt like to see the world with innoncent eyes and hearts. I hope to always remember to step back and look at the world through their eyes. To always be able to jump in and play and laugh with them, no matter how messy.