Creativity = Messes.

I've often read about the importance of buying Norah toys that will promote her creativity: play dough, crayons, construction paper, building blocks. But, letting her use these things unfettered is a challenge for me sometimes. It's hard for me to see past the messes she makes: the Lego she will miss while cleaning-up that I will, no doubt, step on later, the globs of glue stick that dry to the top of the dinner table, the play dough that falls on the kitchen floor then gets stuck to the bottom of my sock. But, when I let her play freely, let her make those busy messes, she has much more fun and always creates unique things we're both proud of.