Welcome to the Mess!

          Welcome friends!  I am so glad you dropped by.  Excuse the mess.  We live here.   My name is Kristen and I am married to an amazing guy.  I call him Hubs. He works all day, and then comes home to help me clean up the mess I made with the kids.  Sometimes he even cooks dinner.  I swear he has a cape somewhere.   

My kids are:  Baby Girl.  She is 6.  She loves her Special Baby, all things related to animals, the scientific process, and drawing pictures.  Buds is 4.   He is strong and brave and kind.  He is the very definition of a Boy.  (Boy, noun:  Moving noise with dirt on it) He always brings a smile to my face.  And last is Bubba.  He is 1 and is the smiley-est little person I think I have ever met.  He communicates so well, and scares the every loving crap out of me on a daily basis.  He tries to keep up with his siblings.  I might not make it to his 2^nd birthday.  But he is my joy.  I love his snuggles.  Baby snuggles are the best.  

We also run a small zoo.  We have two dogs, Judah and Rosie, two cats, Cleo and Ollie, and four fish tanks with several fish each.  My nature loving daughter is also always hosting bug sleep overs as well.  So yeah, that’s us.  Our house is full, and busy, and fun.  And it is messy!  Very Messy.

Now the dictionary definition of messy is this:

messy adjective \ˈme-sē\

• ·         not clean or tidy
• ·         carelessly made or done : not careful or precise
• ·         causing or involving a mess : likely to make something dirty or sticky

I love the word messy.  I love the definition of messy.  I love the idea of messy.  I want to encourage my kids to be messy.  Now, before I go further, please note that we DO NOT live in squalor.  My house gets vacuumed regularly, my dishes get done (most of the time), and the laundry is always cycling.  We live in a clean house. But we love to do messy things here.  

            I want to encourage moms here.  I want to let you into our messy world.  I want you to know that messy is a great way to teach your kids.  We are a homeschooling family, so learning at home is kind of a big deal here.  In fact, it is a huge deal here.  But I am also not the type that thinks that progress is measured in test scores and worksheets.  It is measured in actual practical applications of the knowledge gained.  Hence the bug sleep overs.   I spend a lot of time combing Pinterest for fun and easy crafts and science projects that I can do with my kids.  

Science for young kids is more about the process than the actual results.  Remind me to write about the time we tried to make silly putty out of laundry starch.  But we have a fairly standard discussion at the beginning of each project.  I explain what we are going to do (NOT what will happen when we do it) and then I ask the kids to tell me what they think will happen.  Are they usually right?  Nope.  Do they think the results are awesome?  Yep.   This is my version of messy learning.  

Art is the same way.  I let them get into the project.  So what if they get paint on the table? It washes.  Or themselves? Into the tub! Or the walls? Well, I do TRY to keep it off the walls, but they wash too! I let them get invested in the process.  And if that involves a bit of mess so be it.  

I want to show you that messy is so much fun!  There is so much pressure on moms today.  Pressure to have perfect houses, and prepare perfect meals, and dress your kids in perfect clothes, and put on your perfect makeup.  Perfect is just plain too hard for me.  I am comfortable with messy.  I want my kids to be comfortable with messy.  Because life is messy.  And when they grow up I want them to be able to deal with the mess.  To thrive in the mess.  

So come with me.  I am going to find the mess behind the Perfect Pinterest Pictures and enjoy it! Stay messy friends!

If you come to see me, come anytime.  If you come to see my house, make an appointment!      ~My Mom’s Kitchen