Yesterday my daughter, (who is only four years old) wanted to do something that was completely messy, and completely dirty. She wanted to jump in a mud puddle. And Yes I let her. I got the garden hose out and put water on the ground and let her play in the mud. Yes she got dirty, yes she got wet and yes she had the most fun she ever had in her young life. My husband came up and asked why was I letting out sweet pretty little girl play in the mud. He wasn't mad, he was just wondering. I simply told him, "She's having fun and it's just dirt, it will wash off." Think about it they are only young once and the thought has occurred to me that at the age of four is when have memories that you always remember. My first memory was when my mother brought my baby brother home from the hospital I was barely four years old. True there are a lot of gaps between then and other times but that memory it the one I can honestly say is my oldest. I don't know is she will remember the day momma let her make a mess in the mud, but the joy on her face and the dirt that covered her from head to toe is a memory that I will remember for years to come. And the thought just occurred to me it may be the way I remember her. Let me explain. I have learned in the short time I have been a parent that there are times when a child will look at you and that is the image that you have of that child years later. Twenty years from now when my little girl is married and possibly has children of her own the image I have of her may very well be the image of her smiling at me covered in mud. I guess what I am really trying to say is let a child be a child. Now days so many people want their children to grow up to fast and there leaves no room for being a child. So I say if your child wants to play in the mud let them they will only be that little once and they need to enjoy it and you do to.
