Gettin' Dirty

I have always been one of those people who cringe at getting dirty. When I was a baby, my mom said that if I got a single crumb on me, that I would go "uh uh" until someone got it off. Ridiculous, I know. With that being said, let me defend myself a little and say that I am NOT a prissy girl. I enjoy things like camping (in a tent) and .......... well, isn't camping in a tent enough?? Back in the day I was all about getting in a nasty ole' river to float in a tube for 4 hours...now, not so much!

 The thought of my kids getting dirty frightens me as a mom. Mainly because of the clean up after. I don't feel like tossing them in the tub mid day. I think that is one reason why I was a little scared to have a boy. I saw mud pies, worms, frogs and ditch playing in my future and I shuddered at the thought of ALL that dirtiness. I occasionally would see pictures of my friend's kids splashing around in puddles after a rainstorm and would think, "Oh how fun and how brave of that mom!" I longed to be able to be that kind of mom, but who was going to clean up my kid afterward? I know I am sounding OCD here, and I am the farthest thing from that, but seriously, an extra bath was just another task to add to my day. Finally, one day, God slapped me across my face and said "Let your kids enjoy their childhood. Let them be KIDS."

The funny thing is that Dixie turned out just like me. She whines at dirt on her hands until I wipe it off (it's actually quite annoying). Of course I don't do that now, but I think she just straight up inherited it from me. She still loves to be a kid though. So, after Tropical Storm Lee poured down on us for 3 days straight, we were left with some decent puddles in our backyard. I mustered up the courage and walked into our room and said "Evan, why don't you take Dixie puddle jumping outside?" He lit up at the idea and I was proud of myself for even mentioning it:) (NOTICE I SUGGESTED DADDY DO IT).

So, with rain boots on and a backyard to explore, Dixie had her first puddle jumping experience. I think I took about 100 pictures of her. She had so much fun and I think that I had more fun watching her. She stomped and hopped through the puddles, thankfully not getting too covered in mud and muck.  The rest of the day, she made sure that she stomped in every puddle she saw no matter where she went.  I think this was a good way to break me in before Knox starts eating dirt and shoving creatures in his pockets like prizes.