The Work of Childhood

"Play is often talked about as if it were a serious relief from learning, 

but for children play is serious learning.  Play is really the work of childhood." -Fred Rogers 

It was midmorning. I was in the kitchen with Julia watching her eat a banana as I straightened up the kitchen. Just as I began wondering where Katie ran off to, Katie comes bursting into the kitchen covered in thick MUD from head to toe!

That morning I was already behind getting things done. My plans were to get laundry going, get dinner in the crockpot, straighten up the kitchen, and get out of the house with the girls for a couple of hours. With the mud fiasco, I knew my morning plans were shot and I'd need to readjust.

I could have yelled at Katie for sneaking out in her nice clothes and for making such a mess. In my earlier days of motherhood, I'm sure I would have scolded her and put her in a long timeout. But I chose to stay calm and help her take care of the mess. (I was already doing laundry anyway). We rinsed out her thick mud covered boots and filled up the other bathtub with water.   She had a fun playing in the tub and got squeaky clean.

Although, my morning didn't go as planned, I'm proud of myself for staying calm and going with the flow.  It's not just my morning, it's our morning.  I could have easily let our morning become an unpleasant morning had I yelled, got overly upset, and made my girls cry.

We ended up having a wonderful morning.  We just postponed our time out of the house until after lunch.

 "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and look for it.  Once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it."  - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland