Hands Off!

I remember when I was little, not so long ago (wink), that playing and using my imagination was so much fun. It was like second nature. I remember playing princess. I would have my "parasol" and dance around the yard with my sister and neighborhood friends. I remember walking through trails to the creek, picking berries behind our house, playing on the dirt pile a.k.a our fort in the back yard and countless other things.

I wasn't one of those kids that dug in the dirt. I made the occasional mud pie but it was always at a distance and with a really long stick. My mom always talks about seeing all of us kids go off to play. Then, when we would come back, everyone else would be dirty, if not filthy and I was as closed to spotless as possible.

I do remember, from time to time, needing "stuff" to make our play time happen. That is totally logical. I needed scissors to cut out a piece of paper, a pen to sign my name, a spoon to stir the soup and so on. However, I didn't have the discernment to NOT use the sewing scissors or the fountain pen or the nice flatware. Ooops.

It used to drive my mom crazy to find her kitchen knives used as tools and her wooden spoons unlocatable (is that a word?). I never meant to make a bad choice by doing these things...it just seemed like a good idea. Well, now I am the mom....

The latest thing my girls love to do is take measuring spoons (theirs) into the bathroom and drink water out of the faucet, then they make a huge mess. Sometimes they use my nice towels to "clean up" some of the mess and then leave them on the floor and sometimes they just leave...water running and all (Thanks GG). They have started to get the idea that they can take stuff from Mommy's kitchen to fulfill their goals and meet the needs of their imagination.

Knowing how resourceful I could be as a kid, I want to put padlocks on everything in the kitchen. I am sure I will have my fare share of moments regardless of security measures I take so I am preparing myself now to have a sense of humor about it. Here's to all the moms out there who have their kitchens raided daily.

Sorry Mom.......:)