Rookie Move

Giant mess. Result of a rookie parenting move on my part

If you stop by our house while I'm making dinner on any given night, you're likely to find Aubrey in Sylvia playing in one of two places. The recycling or the cupboard with the plastic bowls and storage containers.

Aubrey: Mom, can me and Sylvia play with the dishes?
Me: First you have to pick up all this recycling on the floor.
Aubrey: Oh. I'm sorry I made a mess, mom.
Me: (rookie mistake) It's ok to make a mess. You just need to clean it up before you make a new mess.

fast forward five minutes. Aubrey has all the recycling cleaned up and is inside the cupboard tossing all the dishes onto the floor.

Aubrey: I'm making a new big mess! I'm making a new big mess! This is my house!

At this point in the game you'd think I'd have learned not to tell my kids it's totally fine to make huge messes, but I haven't. She cleaned this mess up after dinner and moved on to shoveling out the toy shelf in the living room all the while singing Sylvia needs some toys. It was a really productive night.