"Mars Needs Moms" by Berkeley Breathed
"Oh No!" "The monster owl is going to eat Avatar." "Quick momma save Avatar!" Momma to the rescue with help from Avatar's trusted side kick, Avatar Horse. Maggie, my three year old, is a professional pretender. We play rescue games at every chance we get. One night, in particular, I learned a lesson while playing dinner party. Avatar had a celebration party because he and Avatar horse had defeated the menace owl.
Maggie and I were eating chips and salsa while setting up her guest list. All of a sudden, I turned around and there was Maggie crushing chips into the carpet. My knee jerk reaction was to get mad and start cleaning up but I hesitated. She started passing out chip pieces to all her guests and then gave me some. "They are sharing momma, see look." I went along with her chip fiesta and we cleaned up the big pieces and left the rest to the vacuum.
As a mom it is very easy to become a "bellowing broccoli bully or a carrot cuddling cuckoo" as one of my favorite books of all time, "Mars Needs Moms" by Berkeley Breathed expresses. Sometimes moms and dads need to take off all of their adult hats and put on the kid hat. Not only did Maggie and I have a good time, she shared her chips. A golden rule we try to instill in our children. I didn't even have to try to get her to share.
It may surprise you how and where your kids practice the things you to teach them. So letting lose, having a good time, and, yes, getting messy with your kids can be a moment of learning for both parties. Thinking back, as a child the moments I remember best are the ones that I spent playing with my parents. So crush some chips and enjoy your kids.
-Allie Rhodes
