On Friday afternoon I had Phoebe asleep in the swing and Esther and Magdalene were watching a program on tv. I thought it was the perfect time to shred a big pile of paperwork that needed to be disposed of securely.
The moment I put the shredder on, both girls stopped watching the tv and came over to ask me what I was doing. They thought it was fascinating and loved watching the documents shred into strips of paper through the viewing window. I had a few trips to the recycling bin as I had a lot of shredded paper to get rid of.
Once I finished, I left the shredder bin full of paper to go get a drink of water and before I knew it the bin was emptied and the floor was covered in shredded paper.
They started to throw the paper in the air and scream with delight as they rolled around on the floor.
I had a choice. In that moment I could have yelled at them for making such a huge mess and to clean it up… or join them and have some fun.
I chose the latter and got in amongst the paper. I was able to grab my phone to take some pictures of their joy and to act as a reminder that messy play can be real fun.
We always have a choice and sometimes – maybe most times we should choose to join in. I’m glad I did.
When was the last time you joined your kids with their messy shenanigans?
