Thursday, June 7, 2012

Play-Doh Is The Bane of My Existence

The Culprit


Previously, I spoke of the many different types of parenting styles.  I talked about the differences between how Jeff plays with the boys versus how I play with the boys in The Tower of Terror.

When I play with the boys, we do nice, quiet things like paint, color, play in the sandbox or build train tracks. One of the quiet, safe, things the boys and I like to play is Play-Doh. 


J (3) loves making tractors, tanks, dump trucks, snakes and dinosaurs out of Play-Doh. L (19 mo) enjoys squishing and trying to eat the Play-Doh. J enjoys picking out a color for him and for his little brother, L.  With his sweet little voice, J always asks, "Which color do you want, mama?"  And I pick whichever color happens to be left over.


For my boys, Play-Doh takes up hours of their time.  Okay, not hours, more like one hour.  But still!  One hour is a really long time in little kid time.


While we are playing with Play-Doh, we have the best time!  We make dump trucks and fill them with the "rocks" we make.  Then, J and L squish the Play-Doh, laugh like this is the funniest thing ever and we start all over again.


It is very sweet.  I love watching their creativity and hearing them laugh.  And my kind of activity!  No one is jumping off of things or trying to tackle each other!


HOWEVER, it is the "after Play-Doh fun time is over" that I hate.  The truth is... Play-Doh is the bane of my existence.


The reason? Play-Doh never ends up back in the boxes.  


Sometimes a giant blob is left out on the table, only to be discovered in the morning as I am cleaning off the table for breakfast. 


Or sometimes I find pieces of it ground into the carpet, only to discover it when I end up with a Play-Doh splinter.  


Or, my personal favorite, little slivers end up lying around, only to be discovered by L who tries to eat them.


*Sigh.* I know, I know! Right now, you are asking, "Why do I keep letting them play with it if they never put it away?"  Well, I am either a glutton for punishment, have selective amnesia or just trying to survive. I think I am going to with the later.


Because even though Play-Doh is the bane of my existence, for one moment, for one hour, it was glorious!  The kids were laughing and playing together and it was wonderful!  No screaming.  No fighting. No yelling.  Magical, I tell you!


My point? Hmm, I guess my point would be that the good outweighs the bad. Hands down. Every time.


So, Play-Doh even though you are the bane of my existence, I will continue to tolerate you because you bring my kids happiness.  And really, it's that simple.



7 comments:

  1. Girl, anything that keeps them busy for an hour is ok in my book and worth the cleanup...except for eating glass or whatever. The twins haven't discovered Play Dough yet, but I'm preparing myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paige, you are on to something with "anything that keeps them busy for an hour is worth the clean up". Play Doh is a huge pain in the rear to clean up but so worth it while they are occupied for a while! Good luck when the twins discover it!

      Delete
  2. Forget about the trucks and snacks and dinosaurs. You guys should make paper weights so when it gets left out overnight, you can hand them out to friends and family as gifts ;)
    (I love and hate Play-Doh for the exact same reasons)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make paper weights with the left out Play Doh - genius! Why didn't I think of that?!
      Glad to know someone else shares my love/hate relationship with Play Doh.

      Delete
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