I stared at the brand new water table. We've had it for three weeks, the kids have played with it multiple times a day . For three weeks I watched the kids splash, dip toys in, and sail ships. I've already gotten my money's worth out of it (I even got it on sale for $28, originally $80). It was still sparkling clean, displaying the newness proudly. Yet I was unhappy with it.
I wanted to keep that water table looking brand new. In fact I had every intention of it. The whole reason I bought a new water table was because after 5 years, the old water table was looking....disgusting. It had every right to, it's been through a lot of fun: a polar ice table, mud table, pumpkin moon sand table, baking soda "snow," dyed water, etc. I bought the new water table with the idea of it only being an only water table.
But I couldn't take it. What fun is a toy if the kids can't fully play with it? I'm not the type of person that looks at something and says "this is how you use it." No, I'm the type that looks to put the square in the circle shape. So last week, I scrapped my 'water table only' mind set and added pumpkin sand to the water table.
Now our brand new water table isn't sparkling clean, in fact it's quite messy, as is my floor (the words "keep it in the table" don't go very far here). My husband smirked at me when he saw the water table later that night, "I thought it was for water only?" "I changed my mind," I replied. He simply shook his head and said "I knew it."
When I began daycare, I had two young boys. I knew what messes looked like, but I've become more accustomed to messes I couldn't have even imagined then (pumpkin sand on the carpet? Feet painting on the kitchen floor? Willingly bringing mud into the house? Yes, I've done all these). I've learned to flourish in messes and now I honestly believe I don't know how to function unless there's messes and a million things to do.
I know I've written about this topic before, but the older I get the more I think about it. Some days I REALLY can't wait until I can actually clean my house and have decorations around without the fear of injury or the item(s) getting broken. When I have these moments, I stop and think, 'I don't know if I will have that.' As much as I want that, I know myself. I'll have an orderly house for two hours and be bored with it. I'm not sure if it's a "hazard" of the daycare provider title or being a mom, but apparently I just like my life messy.