Caption This (the continuation)

For Wordless Wednesday I shared this photo...

and asked my readers to caption it... Thanks for rising to the occasion.

(I didn't want to exclude anyone, so I shared them all. Feel free to skim. Such creative ideas. I especially liked "Now Where Did Grandpa Drop His Dentures?" from Penelope. I laughed out loud at so many.)

WeeMasonMan's Mom said... Frog Hunting
Anna Lisa said... Muddy Waters
Deborah said... Muddling
Little Mochi said... Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Buckeroomama said... I'm Going on a Bear Hunt
stacief said... Muddy castles on the horizon?
Marilyn (A Lot of Loves) said... Shloop. Shloop.
Rocks said... Boots, Mud, or Footprints
Ash said... Headless
Tammi @ My Organized Chaos said... Seeking
lonestarlifer said... The only sounds were the lapping water and the squishing of the waders.
Sukhmandir Kaur said... These Boots are made for Mud Puddling Slithy Toves
GrammyMouseTails said... plop, plop, plop squish
Erin said... Treasure Hunting
Mimi @ Woven by Words said... Going to find me some clams.
Michelle said... He's clean now . . . wait five minutes.
Danielle said... On the hunt
Life Ramblings said... Mud-puddling
Dina @ 4 Lettre Words said... That's Mucked Up!
Lauren @ Hobo Mama said... Squilch
Lindsay said... Truckin' through the Muck
Paula said... I will put air holes in the lid and some grass for it to eat!
KLZ said... Into the Great Wide Open
Kim said... Searching
Bethany said... A boy and his mud.
Melissa (Confessions of a Dr. Mom) said...
Boots: check. Bucket: check. MUD: check. "I'm all set Mom, see ya in a few hours!"
Kristi {at} Live and Love...Out Loud said... Stuck in the muck of life? Strap on your boots!
Meg said... Through the muck and the mud!
The Sharp's said... A boy and his pale.
Layla Morgan Wilde said... The great hunter!
Caite said... Quicksand!!
Live Out Loud said... Squish-Squash
luckydame said... Oh My Galosh!
Traci66 said... Walkin' On A Dream or Boots In The Sand
Penelope said... Now Where Did Grandpa Drop His Dentures?
Joann Mannix said... What Summer Brings.
Run DMT said... A Beautiful Mess
Kat from California said... What will I find today?
Mommy Needs a Vacation said... Boys, Boots, & Buckets
Carrie Elbert said... These Boots Were Made For Walking
Miel Abeille said... Treasure Hunting

Thanks to all who played along. I decided to combine a couple and decided on...

Drum Roll Please...

Muddling Our Way Thru the Muck.

I wish this could be a story full of wit and funny clips to bring some gut rolling laughs, but my perspective is a bit sobering really. I guess it's the place I'm at in my life. Please bare with me.
---------------------------

As human beings, particularly mothers we have created this picture in our heads of what children SHOULD be like.

And then we go about our business of raising up offspring who we can only hope turn out to be honest, responsible, upstanding individuals. And who don’t end up on Springer.

Problem is there are no instruction manuals that are attached and we can only do what our limited abilities lend us because we ourselves are flawed.

Let’s rewind a bit.

I was recently able to spend some time with my sister in law. Watching her interact as a mother with her little one toddling about took me back to my early days as a new mom. I certainly didn’t want them to get dirty or be exposed to germs unnecessarily and I definitely wanted to protect them at all costs.

But as the years go by, little by little you unknowingly let out the reigns just a bit. I’m not sure exactly when it happens, but I know that by 5 you realize that they don’t die from germs or dirt and by 10 they seem to have a pretty good handle on reality and could probably teach you a thing or two. Plus a woman might go mad if she stayed that wound for that long.

Today Little Man wanted to catch a frog. And although the thought of yet another critter in the house makes my skin crawl, I kindly drove him down to the creek near our house in search of the little amphibious creature since it was raining outside.

And I sorta had an alterior motive. I hadn’t yet captured a photo for my Wordless Wednesday image, so he agreed to a photo shoot in exchange for his frog hunt.

No frogs were found, so I decided to take a drive to a different location that might provide both frogs and photo ops. It was still raining, so I grabbed the kid’s rain boots and some towels, just to be safe.

When we got to this location I was stoked. In my mind I could see amazing photo ops and it looked like Little Man might just score here. They put on their boots and went out in search of critters.





I grabbed my umbrella and started snapping some pics until what I was observing brought me to a screeching halt.

It was very apparent that neither one of my children wanted to be in the mud, rain boots or not. And nothing I said or did could change their mind.

Me: Don’t all kids like to play in mud?

Little Man: I hate mud.

Pokey started crying as her boots sank in just a little.

Me: Go have fun. It’s ok. Really.

Little Man: Well, I don’t see any frogs here. And I'm stuck.



Pokey cried some more (more of a whiney cry).

The dialogue continued for some time until I couldn’t help but feel exasperated. I should have continued shooting, but those long faces and forlorn expressions were not what I had visualized.



They both went down to the river to clean up.



And it was when Little Man was begging to leave so he could shower it suddenly dawned on me…

I’ve ruined them!

I’m not sure when or how it happened exactly, but I’ve ruined them.

All those years of trying to protect my little ones had in fact prevented them from enjoying the pleasures of childhood. Those carefree, play in the mud days are gone, never to return.

At least that is all I could think in that moment. And the 24 minutes that followed on that long drive home.

Some might think I was just being overly dramatic, or that I should be happy to have kids who appreciate cleanliness.

But I was genuinely pained at the sheer thought that I even MIGHT be responsible for this.

Over the years I've always tried so hard to be a good mom and make sure my kids were having ample experiences and adventures, but this... this is a giant hole in their childhood.

So I send out a plea…

Don’t worry that they don’t eat their peas, or potty train on your timetable, or say the right things, or get a little dirty…



Kids should be kids. Phases come and then leave as fast as they came. Embrace them for their quirks and their interests. Love them as they are and let them enjoy their youth. Let them play in the mud. Kids were meant to have fun and get dirty. And it washes. Trust me. There are much worse things to clean.

P.S. In my defense, hubs has admitted that although he loves all things outdoors, he makes an exception at mud. Maybe I didn’t do this to them after all? Or I wasn’t solely responsible? A girl can hope, right?

Now on to the next parenting mishap…