Playing in the Mud

Last week we got a bad rainstorm that flooded a lot of basements and roadways.  We were lucky enough to not get any water in our house.  When I woke up and looked outside, I realized that we now had a waterfront property as our backyard was pretty much one big pond.  My first thought was that the boys would LOVE to go splash in it, but we had a busy day ahead with preschool and our weekly speech therapy so I didn't say anything to them about the possibility of playing in it later on.

Before we left the house for our appointments, I caught Aaron staring out the window wistfully and saying aloud to himself "Oh man, look at that puddle, I'd love to play in that."  He even called his older brothers to come see for themselves. 

I posted a picture of our yard on facebook and suggested that I put the boys in their bathing suits to go swimming in it.  I got lots of responses encouraging me to let them play in it and one encouraging me to go out and play in it too.  I'm not going to lie.  I can pretty easily talk myself into letting the boys get messy but splashing around in the mud with them isn't my first inclination for many reasons.  I'm perpetually behind on my housework.  My kitchen floor is never clean for more than five seconds and the hampers of dirty laundry are overflowing, so the prospect of adding more mess to the equation was something I had to talk myself into and it took a few hours.

That afternoon we were all crabby and getting on each others' nerves.  It has been a long, wet and cold Spring.  We've been stuck inside so many afternoons.  I couldn't get the big boys to play quietly and they once again woke up Caleb before he was really done napping.  After raising my voice countless times, I decided we needed to do something to shake us all up.  So, I got old clothes out for everyone, pulled out the rainboots and announced we were going out to play--ALL of us.

I pushed aside the though of letting the boys play outside while I got some work done inside.  Instead I pulled on some boots and ran out to show them the best way to jump in the puddle so that you splash the other person standing nearby and hardly get yourself wet.  They squealed in delight. 

The boys were thrilled with this development to our afternoon. They splashed around a lot.

And of course, they found weapons to fight each other with.  Noodles in a swimming pool are fun but nothing compared to dunking the noodles in muddy rain water and pelting your brother with them.

I even mustered up the energy to let Caleb come out and splash around for a while.

His boots are a tad big, so he was found walking around missing one a few times.

I tried to talk the boys into going down the slide headfirst into the puddle or rolling in the mud.  All 3 assured me that they would roll in the mud if I did it first.  So I did.  One a side note, the water was crazy cold and it was only in the upper 50s, so I may have screamed like a baby when I did the actual rolling--don't hold it against me.

Aaron was the only one that followed through on his promise.  There is nothing like your 4-year-old boy rolling in the mud while wearing a pink princess crown (that he previously created) to warm your heart. 

I tried to get one last picture of all of us before there were any tears (since virtually every family activity ends in some tears), but as you can tell, I was a little too late.  James was upset because some mud got in his mouth, Aaron was upset that I said it was time to go in and Caleb wasn't really interested in sitting still (big surprise).

It was still worth it though.  The baths, the laundry and the general mess were totally worth the sparkle in their eyes at doing something so messy.  It was worth the laughter as they got to pelt me with muddy water and the giggles as they ran away from me.  They've been talking about it all week.

Jon arrived home to find us playing in the mud (much to his surprise) so I forced him to take pictures.  I'm sure my children are going to remember lots of things about me and my parenting (hopefully more positive than negative).  I'm sure they'll remember my endless requests to pick up their toys, keep their hands to themselves and to flush the toilet.  Then again, maybe they won't remember them as they don't seem to hear them right now. 

What I really hope is that they remember the times I played with them more than the times I've messed up and lost it.  And if they don't remember this specific time that I played and rolled around in the mud with them, I've got proof.