Dirt is good
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18158
Printed Date: 12 October 2025 at 1:56am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Dirt is good
Posted By: kebakat
Subject: Dirt is good
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 8:47am
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Do you care when your kids get dirty? Or play in the dirt? etc
Yesterday one of my besties was actually in the country with her daughter and came to visit (yay!  ), she bought along a friends little girl as well and her mum was meant to come over and grab her while at my house. That was cool.
So we were outside. I was digging a smal trench thing and sticking rocks in it around a garden. Daniel was going around playing with leaves, pulling grass out of the lawn, and generally just exploring while Andrea (my friends daughter) and the other lil girl were helping me dig with their hands and my friend was just watching us and playing with Daniel. We had spare clothes for the girls so weren't worried about them going home all dirty etc but when her mumma arrived she basically went off her nut about her girl having dirty hands and a dirt smear on her face. Both me and my friend were shocked. Kids get dirty, and the girls were having so much fun and were being really helpful. What was so wrong with it a child getting a bit of dirt on them?! I feel bad for the little girl now because her mum probably doesn't let her do anything like that given her reaction. And getting dirty when you are a kid is usually loads of fun. |
Replies:
Posted By: Mama2two
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 8:51am
OMG, it would be a fulltime job trying to keep Sam clean! She loves getting dirty
I actually encourage it to be honest. There is a lot to be said about messy play ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: caraMel
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 8:59am
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My kids are always getting dirty!
Whether its food or playing dirt, they're always grubby within 10 minutes of me cleaning them, which means I usually am too, lol. Doesn't help that they're always eating either. I have to be honest and say I do get uptight if I've got them all clean and dressed in nice clothes for going somewhere and I come down to find them mucky again 
------------- Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and: 
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Posted By: Glow
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:02am
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I dont care at all if they get dirty, my boys live in their sandpit & garden. I think it helps build up immunity
Perhaps she has OCD?   ------------- Mummy of Two Boys B: 2004 K: 2007 |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:08am
See I would understand if she was in nice clothes but she was just in grubby daycare clothes and we were going to clean her up of course and made sure we had clean clothes before letting her get grubby so I don't see what the big deal was with it. |
caraMel wrote:Posted By: caraMel
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:14am
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Yeah that is a bit OTT. Surely she must be used to her getting grubby at daycare? Or maybe she goes mental about it there too? ------------- Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and:
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:18am
 Its just dirt lol, I wouldnt get angry if Caden had dirt on his hands and some on his face lol.
I think there is nothign wrong with kids getting all mucky and stuff lol thats just kids! Heck I remember making a mud pies as a kid and trying to eat some! lol ------------- |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:20am
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maybe she was planning on going somehwere else afterwards and if she wasnt aware you were going to clean her up she might have been a bit annoyed.
sometimes i prefer my kids to not get dirty too... ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:23am
| Sometimes I like Hannah to keep clean... but if she's having fun then not a problem! A flannel and a change of clothes can change things in a second. |
Posted By: KH25
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:26am
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I don't mind at all if Ashleigh is in old clothes. A friend of mine (who I am sure has OCD) came to visit our playcentre the other week and her son, who is a week younger than Ash got to paint for the first time. But she was actually holding his arm and guiding him as she didn't want to get paint on him. And I had told her to dress him in old clothes and he had a painting smock on. After that, because he got a little bit of paint on his face, she wouldn't let him go near the paints again ------------- Kelly, mum to DD, 19Jun06 (26wks 1lb15oz) DS1, 24Oct10 (32wks 4lb11oz) and DS2, 31Dec11 (32wks, 4lb11) http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Aprilfools
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 9:37am
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If it's simply because she doesn't like the child playing with dirt then that's silly IMO and boring for the child too. I say let them explore and learn their own way.
Dirt is fun and not just when you're a child either . I love making mud pies. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 10:12am
We thought of that afterwards but when she arrived my friend was bringing out the change of clothes, a plastic bag and a couple of wet flannels to start cleaning her & Andrea up so it was pretty obvious that we were going to clean the kids up and weren't expecting her to do it as we didn't know when exactly she was going to come around. |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 10:15am
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I DO have OCD but I've long since given up trying to keep my mucky puppies clean! Monday morning Maya will be in a nice clean school uniform and inevitably she'll tip milo all down it. I've learnt to let it go, it's not worth it.
And as for the gremlins, they are dirt magnets. If we are going somewhere and I want them dressed up and clean I tend to dress them as we're walking out the door, or put dressing gowns over their clothes to stop them making a mess, but other than that, it's nothing a bath and the washing machine can't sort. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 10:31am
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Dirt is good. Andrew is forever mucky (you've seen him) and I have given up with cleaning him all the time. I know just wait till the end of the day. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: nictoddie
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 11:18am
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haha miss makayla eats dirt lol, she is always coming in with it around her mouth, she prob gets into more than her brother, and we have a huge sandpit so she is always in there........ dirt is good lol ------------- 
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Posted By: BuzzyBee
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 11:19am
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I have OCD something chronic ...to the extent where I wash my hands at LEAST 50-100 times a day (explains the dermatitis) ...and I constantly clean Lucas' toys and vacuum on a daily basis etc etc
BUT when we go outside it's a diff story, I let him go for gold. He always ends up covered in dirt and it doesn't seem to bug me. I just put him in old clothes beforehand and chuck them in the wash after he's done. Maybe she's just lazy and couldn't be arsed having to clean her kid up. Felt like you were making more work for her? Kids are kids, they learn through getting dirty and exploring. And as someone mentioned above it helps build up their immunity letting them get down and dirty from time to time. Her reaction was definitely OTT ------------- Single Mum to a darling wee boy of 3 years :) |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 7:33pm
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I'm a total clean-freak. When I was a baby and Mum sat me on the grass, I refused to crawl on it because I didn't like the dew from the grass on my hands. I also hated the sandpit. So as an adult, I always always always like my hands clean and this is my main prob with pets (just for me, not for anyone else).
Anyway, when I had Hannah I automatically turned her into rather a clean freak and going outside on a soggy, cool day did not appeal or occur to me so we lived inside in winter and if we needed a break, we'd go to a friend's place or to some indoor play area (like Plunket offer). In your friend's position, I don't think I would have gone off my nut but I would have been shocked to come to see my girl all dirty. Nowadays I have three girls and the middle one is a lot more demanding in terms of running around outside etc. So I have lightened up a lot. It may be that you reached that a lot earlier because you are a boy's mum, not a girl's mum. ------------- |
Posted By: Two Blondinis
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 7:41pm
Same here - depends on the circumstances. But usually I let her go for it - why not?!?!? DH doesn't agree at all  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
 
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 7:48pm
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I'm a lot like busymum, so my Hannah has automatically inherited some of that - she will finally walk on sand and grass in barefeet, but she often grumps about being dirty, and will go change her clothes herself But I dont mind if she gets dirty and is having lots of fun - its just more washing, not like I dont do heaps already! ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: pepsi
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 7:53pm
| Alyssa hates having dirty hands most of the time, but I try and encourage it outside in the dirt so she's getting better with it. I tend to wipe her hands if she's eating and they are really grubby cause she currently has this filthy habit of wiping her food covered hands on her clothes mid-meal. |
Posted By: AnnC
Date Posted: 12 June 2008 at 8:53pm
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Kids need to get dirty its all part of being a kid. ------------- Ann 
Also Mum to Josh (15) and Brooke (10) |
Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 13 June 2008 at 6:44am
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I was pedantic about keeping Charlotte clean- she didn't have any 'dirty' clothes and she was another baby who hated being dirty herself. Since having Kate I have eased up on both of them- they both get filthy on a regular basis and I love how much they enjoy their messy time.
Even though I was like that initially I wouldn't have gone off my nut- mainly because I don't like confrontation. Might have been a bit miffed if I had plans for afterwards- but if she could see you were going to clean then up then it seems like she was a bit OTT. Is she just a firey person? Or had she had a bad day? Some people just like having hissy fits. ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3 
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Posted By: Skyflame
Date Posted: 13 June 2008 at 10:57am
You mean kids are meant to stay clean. How on earth do you managed that. Mine seems to be able to get dirty as he exits the bath.
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