Do you let your kids get dirty.?

Question

Just the ordinary rough and tumble dirt. On park fields or in forests. By the river or muddy overflows!. Or do you get paranoid if they pick up a stick?.

Answer 1

Yep, my daughter steals the dogs sticks and chews them! She's sort of a permenant mud color, like a little tribal child! the cleanest she gets (apart from the 2 seconds after a bath she stays clean) is when she has a paddle in the stream, at least then her legs are clean. She ambles round the farm in her little dungarees getting as filthy as possible, it builds a good strong immune system!

Answer 2

I don't have children, but if I did I would encourage them to get as dirty as possible!!  lol..!  I did when I was a kid - I too am suspicious of clean children!

Answer 3

It buids up their resistance to germs.  Sticks are cool, mud is cool. These are necessary for immunity.  Dirt never hurts (but keep away from animal droppings...)

Answer 4

Yes i try too - whe he was a baby i was always cleaning his face i don't like looking at kids eating when there is food all over there faces so now he is a little weird about getting dirty or spilling thins on himself (my fault) but as for playing whats the harm -  

Answer 5

Children were meant to get dirty.When they get dirty just pop them in the tub,wash rinse and then good as new.Children love to explore their world and they may get dirty.Let them have fun .Remember the fun we had as kids making sand castles,mud pies and roads for our toy cars.I'm a grandma and I remember making a "fort" in the back woods and making "highways " for my brother's dinky cars.I still like to squish my toes in the wet sand.

Answer 6

Of course! It is a child's job to get as dirty as they can so we can put them in the bathtub as many times as we can. Its what they do!!  

Answer 7

you're meant to let them just be children. They are going to grow up being clean freaks and that will REALLY make them misrable! dont do it, leave them to it. just have handy wipes for when they need to wipe hands to eat sandwiches etc. please dont ruin it for them. It could leas to OCD and all sorts. I know.

Answer 8

I was always a clean freak untill I had my baby, you just cant keep them clean but I always say its clean dirt and that their having fun.

Answer 9

I let my kids get dirty all the time. It is just a bit of muck and it will wash off. I like to see my kids have fun and explore around them. If I see a kid who is spotlessly clean I actually feel sorry for them as they mustn't know how much fun it is to get mucky.

Answer 10

Kids are not kids if they aren't able to get dirty. Whist my daughter is miss prim and proper, my son loves mud and such. I let them go. Clothes can be soaked and washed, and they bath nightly before bed anyway

Answer 11

Well first depends on what age group were talking about? If its a under 10, then yes, that's what kid do best , but between 10-13, I try to make them cut down on it and try to act a little mature and then by 13-14 their a teenager, close to an adult they shouldn't be doing it anymore. but that's just my preferance., to do everything in stages.

hope that

helped:)

Answer 12

Yes i do...but my daughter also knows i like a clean and tidy house so when she comes in covered from head to toe in mud she'll stand at the door take all her clothes off run upstairs and have shower (her choice i have not told her to do that). She loves getting mucky but also knows the importance of keeping clean and she's only 4.

Answer 13

let them live , they need a certain amount of dirt to have good immunity , kids on farms have the best , when i worked in a school i once caught an immaculate girl who would not join in painting or crafts, l*****g her shoes clean as mummy would smack her if they weren't perfect, i felt so sad for her let them have a childhood, i like the new persil adverts

Answer 14

They can get as dirty as they want...just don't drag it across my kitchen floor!!! lol...My 14 year old son and his friends are the ones who are bad about this...my 2 girls are NOW Pretty Prissy!

Answer 15

YES ,i have my grandchildrend every day and when they get picked up they look like nobody owns them ,but there HAPPY and allways got a big smile on there face,

Answer 16

Yes I do. My daughter is usually covered in mud. But I think that it is good for children to get dirty.

You should see her when we do painting as well. I swear more paint gets on her than the paper!

I don't believer that you can stop children getting dirty, unless you stop them having fun.

When I was growing up me and my older brothers loved putting on our wellies and going for walks in the woods. You could guauantee that one of us would fall in a muddy puddle and be covered. But we loved it.

One of my daughter's favourite things to do is jump in big, muddy puddles

But I do look around the area first for dangerous things especially if we are not in our garden. But I am not obsessive about it

Answer 17

I have 4 boys and oh yes, I let them get dirty.  My 2 youngest have it in their head that they are going to make a clubhouse out of mud bricks...haha, you should see the mess that makes!  I always tell my 5 year old that there isn't a sweeter smell than a dirty, sweaty little boy at the end of the day.

Answer 18

I let my little boy play in the mud and sand, he's never spotless even at home.  I'm not keen on him playing with sticks though just in case he pokes his eye out.

Maj

Answer 19

all the time, it helps them build up an immune system, if they never get dirty they can be more at risk from infection as their little bodies have never been in touch with dirt and had the chance to fight off everyday bugs and germs.  

I certainly don't get paranoid if they pick things up, hands will be going near the mouth after they have played in the mud so what difference does it make if they pick it up, its all about learning and developing too.

Its good for their immune system and its great fun, have to say I join in too, great fun.

Answer 20

Dirty is to be encouraged.

Football (American style), soccer goal keeper, baseball,  ultimate Frisbee all require getting dirty if you are doing it right.

All of this has nothing to do with the concept that the people who avoid dirt end up being more likely to become ill than the ones who get plenty dirty and build immunity.

Answer 21

As long as they're clean by the time their heads hit the pillow, I'm totally okay with mud.

And if there's no tub, a hose will have to do.

Answer 22

We live in the country, and my son will often come in so dirty that you can not see anything but the whites of his eyes (even his blonde hair will be dark because it is caked in dirt).  I do not mind, as he is washable.

If we are out at a park or what not, I do ask that they try not to get that dirty.  I do not mind them getting dirty, just not filthy when we are out.  I always carry bottled water and a wash cloth, though, as well as a clean shirt and baby wipes.  Atleast I can TRY to make them a bit more presentable if they get too dirty.

Answer 23

Yes, I do.  I would never tell them to stop doing something because they might get dirty.  My sister does that and it drives the whole family crazy!!!!!!

Answer 24

There are not many fields or forests where I live, or in many places, as our government continues to build on any open space.  

Actually, I know people who don't like their children to get dirty.  They are very difficult and petty children.

Watching your child discover through the play you mention is very satisfying.  I recommend it.

  

Answer 25

Do I let them get dirty, well no I don't set out and say go get dirty, they just find a way to get dirty anywhere and anyway all on their own lol.  Kids will be kids and unless you lock them like some freak then they are going to get dirty, part of the fun of being a kid.

Answer 26

Everyday!

I am always suspicious of clean children!

Answer 27

I love my kids coming in dirty not so much now because they are older although my youngest still does. I think there's nothing nicer, they come in filthy and you bath them and mine would sit on the sofa eating supper and watching telly, looking like little angels.

Answer 28

kids should be kids at the end of the day, making mud pies, climbing trees etc.  it part of growing up.  i have seen kids with ocd parents, constantly changing, cleaning etc and now if they get the slightest litlle bit of dirt on their hands or wherever they scream and cry like its the end of the world, its worrying to see.  kids should get dirty at times

Answer 29

Yes of course, I just tell them to try not to put their dirty hands in their mouths.  

Answer 30

my kids are often  filthy by the end of the day as they love being outdoors and playing mud pies etc, as long as they wash their hands before eating I really dont see any harm in it. I think it is good for building up their immune sustem too.

Answer 31

When I was seven, and staying at my Grandmother's house for a few weeks - my chief joy was sitting in the middle of a her old vegatable patch - and digging tunnels, moats, etc for hours on end.

At lunch - my grandad brought out a washing up bowl of warm, soaping water - and I'd scrub down my arms, hands and face and eat my sandwiches sat out on the doorstep.

I'd come in an hour before dinner time - have a bath, dinner.

I was probably the muddiest child in the UK most days - wnas was generally only happy if I was outside, with mud and grass stains on my trousers/shorts/knees.

I'm 21 - and living a perfectly happy and normal existance with no ill effects of jumping into muddy puddles.

So when I have kids, they can be kids and get as muddy as they want. Its nothing that a bath and washing machine can't solve.