{31 Days} Intentional Living – Day 16

Find the rest of my {31 Days} Intentional Living series here.


My kids love crafts.  Anything where I take out paper, glue, markers and stickers – they are happy.  I honestly think that if we had an endless amount of craft supplies, they would do little else besides crafts.  Now, I don’t want you to think that we have wonderfully themed crafts that we do every day.  Not a chance.  In fact, when I try to have a planned craft it always goes wrong and I get frustrated.  Why can’t they just listen to the directions?!

Well, they would rather do it themselves.  And perhaps my very cool cut out pumpkin from construction paper to decorate it doesn’t interest them as much as decorating each other…my kids are 2 and 4 after all.

But the hardest part of craft time for me?  The paint.  Above all the craft supplies that we have (and we have quite a bit – an entire room of it actually), they prefer to paint.  And not that great water color paint that washes right off, no it has to be finger paints and any other paint that has a very thick consistency.  And it gets everywhere.

Remember how I just said that my kids prefer to be creative in their own way?  Well, that almost always includes painting each other.  I guess I should be happy they aren’t painting the walls.  Why am I talking about this?  It is because I have a hard time letting them because I know that I will have to spend a large amount of time cleaning up afterwards.

I was thinking about that yesterday while my kids played with reusable stickers as paper dolls, and realized that they have more fun when I let them explore their creative side, instead of squashing it because I don’t want to clean up a mess.  I should be encouraging them to be creative, and not be as concerned about the mess that follows.

Isn’t life just full of messes anyways?  Shouldn’t I let the kids explore their own creativity and imaginations?  When I think about homeschooling my kids, and I think about how I want them to follow their own interests, what if their interests are messy like paint, but I don’t want to bother cleaning up so I don’t let them do it is as often or in the way that they choose?  I think that it would stifle their desire to learn, and that is the exact opposite of what I want.

So, today, when my kids ask me if they can paint, I will put them in their play clothes and put an old sheet on the floor, and let them go to town.  And maybe I will be able to read a book while they are entertaining themselves.

Do you have a messy part of your day that you try to avoid with your kids?  What if you said yes instead of saying no?

I am linking up at the Hip Homeschool Hop and Mommy Club