Embracing the Dirty Moments.

"Momma, momma... he's drinking the water!!!" said Brayden in a frantic voice, rushing into the kitchen with despair that Connor was doing something he clearly shouldn't be doing. I dried my hands off and rushed outside behind Brayden to find Connor. As I rounded the corner of the yard, there he was. Connor, in all his toddler glory, was shoveling dirty, nasty, stagnant rain water and pouring it into his mouth and down his shirt.

My first reaction was to say "sick!" and yank the shovel out of his hand. And then I looked down at my sweet, smiling baby and I melted a little. Bless his heart, he was only doing what every boy wants to do... play in the dirt and water. He wasn't trying to disobey or do something he shouldn't do. And let's be honest... drinking a little rain water with dirt, while completely and utterly disgusting, probably isn't going to kill him.

So I rinsed his little grubby toddler hands and sent him back to play in the water.

(this one is blurry, but I heart it SO much!)

He's not going to die. And my hope is that when he grows up, he'll remember all the times I let him get dirty and gross. And not remember times when I held him back from fun for no logical reason other than it grossed me out or crossed a boundary that I myself may not cross in the department of germs.

It's part of being a boy mom. And I am learning (ever so slowly) that being a boy mom means that I must embrace these dirty moments, because they are all too fleeting.