Messy Mom Monday: The Kid Version

Since I've done two posts now about my house and the sad, sad state it seems to never fully crawl itself out of, I decided to take a different approach this Monday. Really, I have the weather to thank. Because honestly, as I sat and watched my kid go nuts, I realized this was a blog post begging to be written.

So while our lucky neighbors up north ("lucky" being a relative term...) were enjoying beautiful flakes of happiness landing on their tots' eyelashes, we were enduring a grey, soppy mess. The rain came in spurts, but most of the time it was a constant misty drizzle. And for a mom with a toddler who is obsessed with going outside, this was not sitting well. Finally, there was a break in the rain yesterday.

And I'd had it.

While Noah is an absolute angel-child (and I don't say this smugly... I say it in a "ThankyouJesusthankyouJesusthankyouJesus" sort of way), he had been cooped up for far too many hours and was beginning to stress me out. Christmas toys weren't cutting it anymore. Curious George, Thomas, and Baby Einstein were old news. So what does a desperate mommy do?

LET HIM AT IT.

It's no secret my boy loves dirt. I'm pretty sure the majority of my 2011 posts involve dirt in some way.

So obviously, nasty days to him are like Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day, and Easter all rolled into one heaping mud pie.

Since one of my goals as a mom was not to ever sweat the small stuff (ie. messes... because they're inevitable), I've learned to embrace the whole messy-boy-thing. I figure, he'll only be this little for so long... might as well let him enjoy it to the fullest.

Did I mention we should've bought stock in Shout?

They ought to use us for advertising. Seriously. 

Also, Noah enjoys treating our dormant garden bed like a sand box.
Except, unlike sand, this stuff leaves some stains if I don't wash it immediately.

 Finally, after about an hour and a half of mud-slinging fun, I'd decided enough was enough.

Even I have my limits... once the mud started landing in my hair and on my camera, the fun was over for me.

But instead of making him sit around bored for the rest of the afternoon, I figured we'd do another messy activity. I mean, the kid was already down to his diaper as it was... might as well keep the party going. 

"Go big or go home" and all that.

So we made cookies.

And while all of this left me plenty of clean-up work, finding this picture on my camera after it was all over with made the whole messy production worth it...

Happy Messy Mom Monday, y'all!
Need to show off your decision to hang with the kids instead of mop the floor?
Join the party!