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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to love seeing mucky kids

77 replies

paradisechick · 09/07/2012 11:12

Ds has just came in with 2 other boys. They've been playing in the field building dens. They're proper grubby and I think it looks fab! It's nice to see kids with evidence of a good mornings playing on them!

OP posts:
spiderlight · 09/07/2012 12:16

I love seeing mine all scruffed up and happy as well (which is just as well because it's his natural state! I have a photo of him at school, about to meet Princess Anne, with felt pen all across his face like a young, ginger Adam Ant :o). We were in the park recently and there was a little girl there in a beautiful pale-blue-and-cream outfit. She got the tiniest little mark on her jacket and her mum went 'Well, that's it, then - we'll have to go home!' and marched her off. Made me sad, especially because the girl was as horrified by the mark as her mum and was clearly not used to playing outdoors at all.

Sirzy · 09/07/2012 12:18

I am all for letting DS get as messy as he wants BUT when he has finished if what he is doing is likely to stain clothes then they come off to get cleaned and if we are going out I always make sure he is clean when we leave the house.

freddiefrog · 09/07/2012 12:29

My kids love getting filthy and it's nothing the washing machine and a bath won't fix.

We have some friends who are really uptight about the kids getting dirty and are forever chasing them round with anti-bac spray and wet wipes or bollocking them for getting their clothes dirty.

They came to visit us last summer and it was a nightmare,

We took them to a local creek so they could paddle and fish - their kids weren't allowed in case they got wet or dirty

Going to the beach was a military exercise as they weren't allowed to get sandy

We went to fly kites at the top of a hill and the kids all wanted to roll down it - they weren't allowed in case they got dirty

Couldn't go crabbing incase they got wet.

I ended up in the loft fishing out a load of our girls old clothes they could wear that they could get as filthy as they liked

WowOoo · 09/07/2012 13:05

FreddieFrog - that's such a pity for those kids.

I'd probably be the first to roll down a hill, having no shame.

Sounds fab to me Smile

Original poster
paradisechick · 09/07/2012 14:08

Oh god I've not rolled down a hill in years!

OP posts:
GrimmaTheNome · 09/07/2012 14:31

Not so long ago DD told me she was sorry for one of her friends, who had sadly said she had lots of designer clothes but nothing she could get muddy in. Its just ridiculous - anyone who can afford designer gear could surely buy some cheap trackies and tees for their kids to muck around in? Preferably in colours which won't show a little residual mud or grass stain.

Kayano · 09/07/2012 14:35

Totally depends IMO

A child rolling in the mud outside a funeral having a tantrum is very different to a child enjoying building dens

GrinWink

BlackholesAndRevelations · 09/07/2012 14:36

Who on actual earth can go to the beach and NOT GET SANDY?! eh?!

I once taught a non-verbal boy in my sen class and his parents were delighted if he was covered in paint etc when they picked him up- said they then knew he'd had a good day! Grin

My own kids are always covered in goodness knows what!

SueHeck · 09/07/2012 14:39

People who can afford designer clobber for kids either don't buy it or don't care if it gets trashed.

Those who can't afford it are the ones that buy it but don't let them get dirty..

PiousPrat · 09/07/2012 14:42

The local park flooded in all the rain a couple of weeks ago. We went down for a neb and there was a little girl of about 7 begging her Dad to let her go and paddle with the other kids and being told no because she would ruin her shoes. Meanwhile I was on the phone to all DS2's mates to let them know it was flooded so they could come down and swim around the skate park with us :)

The only time I am bothered by dirt and mess is when DS2 comes in from playing football coated in mud and grass and goes to flump down on the sofa. I couldn't care less about him getting his clothes dirty, I think it is a sign he has had fun, but the sofa is a lot more hassle to clean Wink

ThisTimeNextYearRodney · 09/07/2012 14:42

When I pick DS1 up from preschool he is normally soaked, covered with mud/glitter/glue etc, with cake batter in his hair. I love it!

One of the best things we did this summer was getting an old flat sheet, pegging it to the garden, stripping DS1 (3yrs) and his friends down to their pants and letting them go crazy with paint! Bath in the paddling pool, everyone's happy

lurkedtoolong · 09/07/2012 14:59

I love seeing mucky kids and love sending my Brownies home with glitter and all sorts covering them.

And I always love the sight of a little one with ice cream all around their mouth. Makes me laugh and feel a little jealous.

MrsHelsBels74 · 09/07/2012 15:03

You'd adore my son, he always looks like a street urchin!

geegee888 · 09/07/2012 15:05

Totally agree. I was so shocked and saddened by my DNs last week (a) never going outdoors and (b) never having touched an animal. (I am aware these are two seperate things before anyone feels the need to point it out).

Pandoralight · 09/07/2012 15:06

I was always told that a mucky kid is a sign of them having fun ;)

I have no problems with mine getting mucky as they play - it's part and parcel of growing up.

I do tend to grit my teeth when my ds comes home from school with grass stains on his uniform from playing football. Sometimes those grass stains are a right nark to get out!

Chandon · 09/07/2012 15:10

OP, you must have better washing powder than me Wink

I did not know those mums in washing powder ads, who smile fondly when all their family trudge in, covered in mud, smiling al the while, and happily putting on yet another load of laundry, really existed.

50ShadesOfSaggy · 09/07/2012 15:16

Mucky, barefoot, half dressed, mussed hair: happy child! Grin
Unless its my DS. If he fell over as a child, he would use his elbows to get up so his hands didn't get dirty! Confused
Now he is 16 he doesn't bother so much. Head an explorer scout. I had to peel the dirt off of him when he came home yesterday! Grin
Dd is always covered in horse poo, dirt, mud, horse bogeys, it's a lovely sight!

MrsHelsBels74 · 09/07/2012 15:24

To be honest I don't care these days if the stains come out Blush life is too short. Son has a few outfit for 'best' but the rest of the time I just don't care...if they got stained once they'll get stained again!

Original poster
paradisechick · 09/07/2012 15:24

I wouldn't say I delight in the prospect of more laundry but I do love watching muck washing out of clothes. Dh has a dirty job, his work stuff gets done on a Friday and I love seeing the dirty water in the machine.

OP posts:
MrsTerryPratchett · 09/07/2012 15:29

Smelling of sun cream, hair looking like a birds nest, food all down front, sand around mouth Blush wet from head to toe, muddy. Check. Not a boy BTW, this is DD.

I think one of the reasons we think this is boy fun is because girls are the main receivers of the don't-get-your-dress-dirty, don't-you-look-pretty brigade.

WorraLiberty · 09/07/2012 15:31

It's so easy now to clean clothes

It's not like we have to drag them down to the river and beat them against stones Lol

GrimmaTheNome · 09/07/2012 15:33

Not any girls I have any truck with Grin. DD has some quite 'girly' friends but if they come out for a day with us they'll end up in the stream with her for sure.

Sirzy · 09/07/2012 15:33

I have only had to throw away one item of clothing which DS has stained beyond being usable. Everything else comes clean eventually!

MrsTerryPratchett · 09/07/2012 15:37

GrimmaTheNome you are so right. DD only has one well-behaved friend like this. It isn't a good day if no one gets wet.

GrimmaTheNome · 09/07/2012 15:38

All my DDs friends are well behaved. Too well behaved to mope around staying clean when the order of the day is outdoorsy shite!