Paint

I have not been able to bring myself to let Bea paint in our house. She loves the idea of paint – whenever she sees it on one of her little shows, she asks to paint right away. Once, we met friends at a play zone that had a painting and crafts room. I thought I’d be able to give up control, since I would not be the one cleaning up.

I spent the entire 8 minutes that Bea painted hovering with a wet paper towel, trying to intercept spills. She still came home covered in green poster paint. And, miraculously, it all came out in the wash. That experience hasn’t given me confidence to try it at home yet…

The thing is: I’m not a very clean housekeeper. Our floors are clearly those of a toddler-and-dog house; Our furniture always has a layer of dust; Our bathroom mirrors are smudged. I don’t know why painting gets me so nervous.

I feel like motherhood is in a phase of messy. Embrace your mess! Don’t worry about the laundry! Mothering is more important than housekeeping! I fully agree with all of those sentiments and try to keep my interactions and playtime with Bea as my number one priority, before the chores.

But…. They are always at the back of my mind and I’m always thinking, One day, my house will be clean. In this season of messiness and mud and sand, I’m learning to embrace the actuality of the dirt involved in these moments. And, maybe one day, I’ll even embrace some paint.

Linked with Lisa-Jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday, a time to write for five minutes without editing.

4/29/14 UPDATE: I learned to outsource.