Kids on the farm lead a totally different lifestyle than other children. They have the freedom to create with nature.  However, with boys, creativity always takes on a different form.

One summer afternoon, about 35 yrs. ago, my six and four year old sons were playing out in the rain. A heavy storm had come upon the farm and left tremendous puddles in which they were playing .

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that they were rolling around in the puddles and throwing mud balls at one another. It’s a farm. All I did, was send them to their dad in the dairy barn. He power washed them down..clothes to the washer…kids hit the showers. It was no big deal for mom and dad, and a lot of fun for the boys.

Press forward 5 years. Now we had son number 3, who was two yrs. old. Again, we had the tremendous rain that flooded the barn lot.

You guessed it! The two older boys came running. “Mom, can we roll Junior around in the mud puddles ,as we did a few years ago?” My mind began to race, as I realized the dimension of creativity these two older boys could contrive.

My answer:” Yes, but don’t go too crazy.”

“It’s merely harmless fun,” I said to myself. Who was I kidding?

Now you have to understand the genre of media in 1986. It was the time of 2 movies of which my boys were enthralled. “Swamp Thing” was a movie about a creature that came out of the swamp, covered with twigs, vines, and mud etc. In the movie “The Karate Kid,” Daniel won the Karate Tournament by using the Crane Kick.

About a half of an hour passed, when I heard screams outside. Fearing the worst, I ran to the back porch. There were the two big brothers, laughing so hard, that they were literally lying on their back holding their bellies.

Number one son yelled, ”Mom! Count to three and wait for a big surprise!” Before I relate about The Big Surprise, I have to fill you in about the two year old.

He has the brightest blue eyes, you can imagine. He, like his mom, tans quite sufficiently in the summer.

As I gave the count down, the little one jumped out, accompanied with The Crane Kick and yelled, “I SWAMP THING,MOMMY!”

Low and behold, in front of me was a Mud Monster! He was decorated not only with mud covering every inch of his body, but also with leaves, twigs, and vines. Not to mention a huge pile of mud atop his head. All you could see were his bright blue eyes.

As we all fell into spasms of laughter, farmer Thomas ran from the barn, thinking that he was addressing a crisis. He shook with laughter and a sigh of relief. “Get him in the barn to the power washer. NOW!!!”

Sometimes when you allow boys to create fun on the farm, it can turn out to be a lot more than you bargained for.

I LOVE MY BOYS!