Do You Freak Out If Your Kids Get Dirty?

Heck no! Let em be kids, I say! I actually encourage my children to get as dirty and messy as they like playing here at the house or at the lake, camping, whatever. The dirt washes off but the fun and things they can learn last a lifetime! Some of my fondest memories are studying little critters in the ditches, climbing trees, making mud pies... I want my little ones to have fun and fond memories of this time too!

I don't freak out, it's all a part of being a kid. I make sure to bathe my son before he goes to bed, but other than that if we go out in public, I make sure to wipe his face down and his hands.

The only time it bothers me is if they track mud through the house with their dirty shoes. Other than that I say go for it...if you can't play in the mud and get dirty as a kid, when can you? I was the worst for getting into a mess when I was a kid. I played soccer all the time and was always diving around like an idiot in the muck.

I just have to laugh at your question for a minute. Last night one of my good friends just got back from a business trip and his 4 year old son came running up to him to welcome him home. My friend reached out and was smiling ear to ear. As soon as his hands got around the sides of his son and he was about to lift him in the air to give him a hug, he froze and snarled up his face saying, "Eeww. Get away from me, you're all sweaty." I just sat there, a little confused and astonished. The child looked hurt, as I imagine I would have been also. Before I could question what happened my friend just started in about how he hates sweat and dirt and how could his son be so unlike him. I know it's not a knee slapping kind of laughing matter, but do parents not remember being kids? Kids like to play. They get dirty. They get sweaty. That's life. My mom used to freak out when my sister and I would get messy or dirty. She would let us go out and play on the slip and slide and she would stay in because she hated the outdoors. It never took long for us to grab the hose and flood the ground to create a little mud pit where we would cover our bodies in the mud from head to toe. If we were ever caught she would let out a shrill scream and we knew it was time to wash off and put the hose up. And as soon as we came in the house my mom would have plastic laid out from the front door to the bath tub and that was the first thing we did. Wash off. It was like that when we played out side or rode our bikes or even when we came home from playing at a friends house. My mom was obsessed. I don't have any kids of my own yet, but I vow to be a different kind of parent. Well, at leat one that allows a little mess every now and then. :)

If we have somewhere to go I freak out. She also loves to take out her earrings and take her hair down when we have somewhere to go. I do things twice just to try and get out of the house. As far as staying home no I don't care. When we go to my moms and my husbands mom I say whoever get her dirty cleans her lol. They will to.

Unless we are leaving to go some where I don't mind if the children get dirty. Kids will be kids. Part of being a child is getting dirty. I allow them to play outside all day and get dirty. When it is time for them to come in I have the rinse off at the water spigot so that they don't track all the dirt inside the house. I figure the children are washable so why get upset.