March 23, 2017

Dear Baby,

So for basically your whole life, you’ve had this weird thing about textures/messy things/touching things with your hands. You don’t like dirt or paint or glue or Playdoh which has been shocking to me as a parent because I basically thought that kids were born to like that kind of stuff. I can tell you for sure that I have distinct memories of playing with (and eating) Playdoh and glue (I didn’t eat glue, just the Playdoh – it was salty. Don’t judge me.) So in this Thursday class we do, they have this arts and crafts table and a Playdoh table neither of which you are super keen on.

The A&C has been non negotiable since I die for those little paintings you make. I think art is super important even if you hate art and I also think getting you out of your comfort zone in a reasonable way is good. You have done art with a few restrictions (no glue) and to my delight, you have embraced painting and getting a tiny bit dirty.

But Playdoh has been a no-go. Until recently.

Today in class, you sought out and enjoyed Playdoh and my heart exploded. First, now we can play with it and that’s awesome because Playdoh is just awesome and second, I can quell my fears about your OCD tendencies towards items with texture and know that it was just a phase.

So the lesson here it trite but worth saying and that is: don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, Baby. It’s super good to be tactile and interact with your environment and touch things. Dirty things and clean things. I am a firm believer in letting kids eat dirt and getting their hands in everything and my only regret is that I didn’t encourage it more and sooner (sorry about the parks and sand that I kept you out of last summer, your grandmother scared me with a story about tapeworms that live in your ass and I subsequently went crazy – this summer, you can play in the sand and I will kill those butt worms if eat the sand and catch one. But please don’t.)

Experiencing your environment with all your senses is a great way to explore the world you live in and interact with it in meaningful ways.

Plus, it’s fun.

So get those hands dirty and I’ll be waiting with some wipes (or not, immune systems are built on dirt) and never be too old to play.

xo

Mom