I am a big fan of mud, dirt and playing outdoors.  Among my favorite memories from childhood are those where I would spend hours playing outside - imagining, pretending and creating/co-creating with mud, dirt, sticks, leaves, and whatever bits of nature my siblings and our friends could find.  (One memory that is often talked about when my siblings and I get together is how one of my brothers with an artistic bent would spend hours using mud, sticks and leaves to make palm tree villages and then the rest of us would come along with our Star Wars ships and dirt clods and "bomb" the villages...it doesn't sound very nice now, but it certainly typifies the sometimes aggressive aspect of the imaginative play of childhood.)  As an adult, I've read about research and observations which, unsurprising to me, indicate how beneficial playing outside and playing in the mud and dirt are for children, and even for adults.  The reported benefits for those who regularly play outside, play in nature and/or play with dirt are numerous:  better mental health, lower incidence of depression, decreased stress levels, significant reduction in ADHD symptoms, increased immunity, lower incidence of allergies and asthma, better digestive health, increased cognitive function, improved motor skill development, increased creativity, and more.  I'm also a fan of encouraging ample unstructured play time.  This is free play - not guided by adults, but created by the kids themselves.  There are several studies indicating how important unstructured play is for social, emotional and cognitive development, all of which again, I don't find to be a big surprise.    (At the end of this post, I have provided a "further reading" list with links to other sites that provide more information, though one can find quite a few resources by typing something like "benefits of playing in dirt," "benefits of outdoor play" or "benefits of unstructured play" into an online search engine.)

A few years ago I first saw an article about constructing an outdoor mud kitchen for kids, and I thought it was a great way to foster unstructured outdoor play in the dirt - all those things which the aforementioned studies and my intuition favor.  Plus, it just sounded fun!  I've wanted to build a mud kitchen for my children ever since, and my husband and I finally did so this summer.  As a result of installing a brick patio last summer, we had a big pile of dirt sitting in our back yard, and we spent several months contemplating what to do with it.  The kids had such a great time playing on the dirt pile - they even used it as a mini sledding hill during the winter - that we decided to keep the pile of dirt; it was inexpensive play with which the kids could get a lot of playtime mileage.  I figured this was a great time to put a mud kitchen in next to the dirt pile.  I started with an online search to view images of other mud kitchens as an inspiration point, then looked around at what we had on hand, went to a Habitat ReStore to see what items we could get for minimal cost, and went from there.  We decided to use our past-its-prime diaper changing table (itself a previous consignment sale find) and a homemade wooden stereo stand, both of which were being stored in our basement.  I found some shutters and a small sink at the ReStore.  Though I forgot to measure the width of of the stereo stand before I went to the ReStore, by some stroke of luck the width of the shutters which I purchased were a perfect fit.  The shutters seemed like such a versatile item, that I figured even if they didn't fit the stand, I'd find another use for them in a future project. The changing table became a sink stand/counter, using an old piece of laminate countertop we had on hand, and the stereo stand became a refrigerator/oven.  My in-laws were replacing their deck steps and gave us the old wood, which was still in fairly good condition; my husband used it to build a table for the mud kitchen.  The entire project became a fun creative exercise - we enjoyed taking what items we had available, coming up with our own mud kitchen design and figuring out how to make it work. The kids picked out the paint colors for the kitchen, although I managed to convince them to use a darker shade of their preferred color on at least part of the kitchen to help make the inevitable dirt stand out a little bit less.  My last minute inspiration was to create a menu board by taking some of the scrap plywood left from cutting out backings for the sink stand and refrigerator/oven, spray painting the wood with some chalkboard paint we already had, and attaching a couple old, dated drawer pulls from a previous dresser refinishing project.  Once the pulls were spray painted, they had a much improved look.  In all honesty, I still haven't gotten around to hanging the menu board outside, so I don't really know how well it will stand up to the weather...but I still like the idea of it. The last step was to stock the kitchen with used pots and pans and utensils, many of which we purchased very inexpensively at a Salvation Army thrift store.  We use a plastic lidded tub for storing all of the kitchen "supplies" outside with the kitchen.

One nice thing about this project was that we weren't concerned about the kitchen looking perfect and professional.  After all, this is a mud kitchen - it is meant to be played with outside, it is meant to get very dirty and be abused by the weather and by kids.  So flaws are not a problem.  We are far from being experts, and we have some doubts on how well all of this will hold up to the elements, but it should be fun while it lasts.  The laminate countertop has particle board underneath, and we were doubtful of how weather-hardy it would be, despite painting the exposed particle board with exterior paint.  Our doubts have been shown to have merit, as the countertop is already warped; however, we can easily just unscrew it and replace it with a different material when we're ready.  My husband and I are very happy with how the mud kitchen turned out, but more importantly, the kids really like it and actually play with it.  It's not always used as a kitchen, but more often as an outdoor lab or general play area where the kids can pretend they are on a ship, pour rainwater down the sink drain or bring the worms, toads and other critters they capture for inspection.  The kids have befriended the toads in the back yard, and Hopper 1 has a favorite toad that he has named Boderi.  I am happy that the kids are spending so much time outside and have a new play area that fosters more exploring and imagining.  (And I have to admit that I have an additional, more selfish reason that I like the kids to play outside regularly and for a good amount of time:  it gives me a break.)  Encouraging outdoor play certainly means more dirt being trudged all over the patio and then dragged into the house.  Although the kids have well-worn jeans and shirts designated as their "dirt" clothes, and I keep a wire basket by the back door for the "dirt" clothes and galoshes to go into as soon as the kids come inside, there is still plenty of opportunity for sweeping the floor multiple times each day (this doesn't mean it always is swept that often, but the opportunity is there).  The mess might be a deal breaker for some people, but we don't live in a meticulously kept house to begin with, and for me the benefits of my kids being outside playing in the dirt far outweigh the costs.  I hope that when my kids are grown they have as many good memories of playing outside in childhood as I have.

For further reading:
Nature Explore
Benefits for Children of Play in Nature by White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group
Let Your Kids Get Dirty by The Art of Simple
The Mud Center: Recapturing Childhood by Community Playthings
Why Playing in the Mud is More Than Just Fun by Nature Play QLD
The Dirt on Dirt: How Getting Dirty Makes for Healthy Kids by The Stay at Home Educator
Scientists Say Child's Play Helps Build a Better Brain by NPR
Why Free Play is the Best Summer School by The Atlantic
The Value of Unstructured Play Time for Kids by Pacific Standard

I'm fortunate that my husband is pretty low maintenance when it comes to gift giving for events like Father's Day and birthdays.  He usually just requests something simple, like spending time together as a family at a park, getting some coffee at a favorite coffeehouse or going out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  I know that he also appreciates homemade items and anything that the kids make, so this year I wanted to provide him with a keepsake from the kids.  Since I had been reading storybooks to the boys that centered around kids spending time with their dads, I decided to have my 5 year old and 3 year old sons make up their own "dad" stories and then illustrate them.  We re-read the storybooks we had checked out, and I discussed the roles of author and illustrator, picking a title that relates to the story, how a story is structured (beginning, middle, end), and how the story lines in the books we read centered around activities that the main characters enjoyed doing with their fathers.   Then I took Hopper 1 and Hopper 2 aside one at a time and had them each make up a story about doing something with their dad.  I had to do a little prompting and clarifying at times - "what did you actually do with your dad?", "how did you feel about your dad?", "what happened next?", "where did this happen?" - but they did a good job given their ages, with my older son doing a better job of telling his story in chronological sequence.  We've been working with Hopper 2 on sequencing (first this, next this, then that...), so story telling was a good way for him to create his own sequencing scenario.  Despite trying to separate Hopper 1 and 2 when I transcribed their tales, the two boys' stories were somewhat similar in theme.  I managed to mitigate excessive plagiarism by having my younger son tell his story first, since he is more prone to copying his older brother.  Once I had transcribed the boys stories, I typed them in a PowerPoint presentation, printed them off (using card stock for the title page), and had the boys illustrate their stories.  We recently purchased a binding machine so that we can create our own photo books, educational workbooks, books of the kids' artwork, recipe books, calendars, etc., and I used that to bind this project.  The kids were very proud of their stories, and it was great watching their faces as they gave the books to their dad and as he read the stories aloud.  My husband told the boys that he would put the books in a very special place, to which my oldest son knowingly stated, "Oh yes, on top of your dresser!"  (My husband's dresser has become the dumping ground for his miscellaneous "stuff" which probably seems like wonderful mysterious treasure in the eyes of a young child.)

For Father's Day, we additionally made some items for the grandfathers.  In perusing the internet for homemade Father's Day gifts from kids, I came across the idea of mini tool boxes made from Altoid tins on the site Alpha Mom.  I thought the toolboxes were really cute, and I wanted to give them a try.  Since I knew the boys wouldn't really be able to help much in the making of the tool boxes, I had them come up with their own idea for a DIY project and tell me the instructions in their own words, which I compiled with some clip art and colorful background, then printed and laminated.  We did something similar for their grandmothers on Mother's Day, but the boys made up their own cooking recipes then (since both grandmothers like to cook) as well as picking a "real" recipe to share.   (The digital clip art I used in these projects came from the Etsy shops PrettyGraphik design and AMBillustrations; the background digital paper came from the Etsy shop Fudgybrownies.)  I think the instructables and recipes the kids come up with are good keepsakes, with the sometimes absurd, rambling and incoherent instructions reflective of their age.  For the mini toolboxes for the grandfathers, I departed a bit from the tool theme, and rather than put nuts and bolts in the toolboxes, we added golf tees.  The tees fit perfectly, and since both grandpas like to golf, it seemed like a way to give them something they might actually use.  I made additional toolboxes, one for my husband, and one for each of my sons to use as "wallets" when I give them money for certain outings, such as farmers' markets.  The toolboxes were relatively easy to make, and most of the supplies were easy to obtain, with the exception of the toolbox "handles" (which are actually eye straps, for use on boats and such).  I ended up ordering the eye straps through Amazon, and then found suitable hardware at a local home improvement store.

I hope that the recipients of our Father's Day gifts find them meaningful.  The kids and I certainly had fun making them. I hope that it helped teach my kids that they don't need to spend a lot of money or do grand things when giving gifts, but rather that spending a little time making something homemade and personal holds great value.  At least, that is my perspective and is a lesson that I want my kids to learn.

I have read several books - or more accurately, partially read several books (reading the introduction counts, right?) - that talk about how to help a child deal with strong emotions such as anger.  In what I have read, the theme usually involves teaching emotional intelligence/teaching how to handle strong emotions effectively via example, by the caregiver dealing with their own emotions in an effective and calm manner.  I absolutely agree that one of the best ways to teach a child to appropriately handle their own emotions is to exemplify handling emotions effectively oneself.  However, I also admit to often feeling that I am a woefully under qualified and inadequate teacher in this respect, particularly in regard to the emotion of anger.  My children are not learning how to deal with anger from a master, but from a long-time, slow-learning student.  That said, being a parent has given me more motivation than ever to develop excellent anger management and anger expression skills because although my children do not have a master teaching them, I know that they deserve a master.  So I'll commit to doing my best, slide on that commitment in the heat of emotion, admit I was wrong and point out how I was wrong, ask forgiveness, and then get back up and try my best again...and hopefully, my best gets better with time and effort.

To help me in teaching my kids how to recognize, name and deal effectively and constructively with their anger, I've used a couple children's books, which I've mentioned in previous posts:   Peace, Bugs and Understanding and Anh's Anger, both by Gail Silver.  As a follow-up to these books, I decided to make each of my two oldest kids an anger doll.  My goal with the anger dolls was to provide my kids with something visual that can represent their anger and to which they can talk about their feelings or can just hang with when they are feeling angry.  I'm realistic about these kinds of projects, and know that regardless of how good my intentions are or my idea might be, the kids often don't see and value things the same way that I do.  These anger dolls have a good chance of being viewed as just another toy and/or thrown aside...and I'm okay with that.  I decided beforehand that the effort was still worth it, I would probably learn something while making the dolls, and perhaps the kids would at least end up with a cute, homemade item.  

I wasn't going for perfection in this project - my sewing skills don't allow for that.  I have a sewing machine, but my sewing knowledge is limited, and my skills are undeveloped.  I decided that I would model the dolls after some of the "monster" dolls or Ugly Dolls that I've seen.  The fact that these dolls were intended to look monster-like, and hence a bit rough around the edges, took the pressure off of any perceived need for perfection.  I started with an online search for "monster doll template" images to get some ideas and to see if I could find anything to use as a starting point.  The website One Charming Party had a free template for a monster doll that Hopper 1 liked.  Hopper 2 liked a monster doll image for which there was no template, so I just copied the online image, enlarged it and printed it off to use as a template.  I had craft felt, fleece and felt fabric, ribbons, polyfill and all other supplies on hand from previous projects, so there was no additional monetary cost to me.  After cutting out the templates, I pinned them onto two layers of fabric which the kids selected from my fabric stock (two layers to get a front and back for the doll), then cut the fabric out.  I wanted to give the anger dolls eyes with colored irises and an "X" on the pupil, similar to what I'd seen in some of the online images I'd found.  I used my set of tablespoons and a Plasti-Dip cannister to make circle shapes of various sizes on colored craft felt, then hand-stitched the the pupil onto the iris with an "X" shape.  Following that, I hand-stitched the iris/pupil to the eye white, and then machine stitched the eye white to the front piece of the anger doll fabric; in retrospect, I think this would have looked better had I hand-stitched it also (partly because hand-stitching would be less noticeable than my uneven machine stitching around a circle).  I then machine stitched my front and back anger doll pieces together, making sure to have the "right" sides facing inwards and to leave a large gap to turn the doll "right" side out and stuff with polyfill once finished.  I can sew straight lines fairly well, but found it challenging to sew small and tight curves on the anger dolls; I was very frequently using the hand wheel to plant my needle, turn the fabric and then continue for a couple more stitches, and my results were still uneven.  But I'll just consider this asymmetry to be part of the charm of the anger doll.  Hopper 2 wanted his doll to have ribbon "hair," so I snipped some pieces of ribbon, folded them in half and tucked them in between the front and back pieces of the anger doll before sewing.  After turning the sewn pieces right side out, using the eraser end of a pencil to help push out all of the narrow areas, and stuffing well with polyfill, I hand-stitched the opening, and I was done.  

Overall, I was rather happy with how the dolls turned out.  More importantly, my kids liked them, and I got the ultimate review of "This looks really cool, Mom!"  They liked them so well that they asked to sleep with their "anger" that night.  That's all the approval that I care about.  Now I just need to make an anger doll for myself....

Several years ago, when my in-laws moved to a new house and were getting rid of items which they no longer wanted, we acquired a vintage metal shell back glider and some matching patio chairs. At the time, we did not have a patio or deck so stored the items in our basement.  In one of our rare clean and purge modes, we unfortunately decided to give the patio chairs away to create more space in the basement.  We were trying to be strict about decreasing the amount of stuff we had on hand yet weren't currently using.  I came to regret getting rid of the chairs, but fortunately, we had enough sense to keep the glider.  At one point, I did a quick spray paint job on the glider, but that had turned into a peeling paint mess.  Refinishing the glider has been on my to do list for years now, but like many things, I just never got to it.  My husband put in a brick patio last year, and we purchased a red and white metal patio table and shell back chairs that matched the glider's style.  (As I made the purchase, I was again kicking myself for getting rid of the patio chairs we'd had.)  Putting the glider on the new patio next to the new table and chairs just highlighted what an embarrassing eyesore it had become.   I have been anxious sit on the patio in the glider with my husband and kids.  But the glider wasn't exactly inviting, and some of the bolts had broken off, causing it to "glide" awkwardly and to be unsafe...not to mention, I didn't like the thought of the baby possibly picking off peeling paint and eating it.  So, refinishing the glider finally moved to the top of the priority list.  Since I would have to work from our non-air conditioned garage, I wanted to get this project done earlier in the summer before the stifling heat would arrive.  There have been previous refinishing projects where I was dripping sweat all over the project while I was painting, and I wanted to avoid that (not good for the project, and not pleasant for me either).

I have repainted a few furniture items, but am still very much a novice at refinishing.  So each time I take on a refinishing project, there is something I am bound to learn.  That usually means learning "the hard way," but on the plus side, I guess the lessons are more likely to stick in my head, at least in theory (how many times have I had to re-learn something I should have remembered?!).

After inspection, it looked like there might be a few layers of paint on the glider, so I started by stripping it with Citristrip paint stripper.  I already had the paint stripper on hand from previous unrealized refinishing projects, and I like that the product is advertised as "safer"/"no harsh fumes"/"safe for indoor use," all of which I hope is actually true.  However, this is still a chemical solution and has risks, as attested by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Household Products Database.  Regardless of the proclaimed safety of a product, I always use a breathing mask, chemical resistant gloves (such as those made specifically for refinishing - stripper will eat through regular latex or nitrile gloves) and eye protection; I also have an old pair of sneakers that are reserved specifically for projects such as this, and which stay in the garage...and they looked pretty nasty after this project.  Additionally, it is recommended to always check with area regulations for how to properly dispose of stripper sludge, paint waste, et cetera. The first couple paint layers came up pretty well with the paint stripper, but lower layers didn't really budge.  I don't know if that was due to the type of paint, how long it had been there, or what; but I didn't want to scrape the metal too hard trying to get them off, and my second layer of paint stripper wasn't very effective either,so I hoped sanding would work for the lower layers.  Unfortunately, at this point, I had to leave the project, and wasn't able to get back to it for over a week.  During that time, surface rust developed.

After I had cleaned up the glider as much as I could from the stripper and let it dry, I started sanding.  I used a random orbit sander for most of the glider, but used a drill with wire brush attachments for getting under the chair edges, around bolt holes, or in other nooks and crannies.  The random orbit sander did a great job of removing paint down to the metal for most of the glider, cleaning up the dried "gunk" left behind from the paint stripping that did not wipe off, and removing surface rust.  Even though I spent an entire day sanding while my husband watched the kids, the random orbirt sander made the job go quite smoothly (no pun intended).

Once I finished sanding, I changed out my tarp for clean plastic sheeting, wiped everything with a soft cloth and then a tack cloth to pick up any small debris and dust, propped pieces up on spare bits of wood or brick, then sprayed everything with Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer.  When that dried, I lightly sanded uneven patches (primarily where parts of the glider were touching another surface, and I hadn't let it dry long enough before turning over to paint the other side) and drips, wiped with a tack cloth again, then sprayed with Rust-Oleum Gloss Protective Enamel in red, to match the patio table/chairs set that I had purchased.  This was the first time I used a spray paint handle/grip gun, and I highly recommend it - it kept my fingers from getting fatigued and gave a more even, controlled spray; these are usually under $10, so not too expensive but very helpful.  I did the sanding, priming and initial red paint coat in one day.  It took me about 10-11 hours (mostly sanding), but I made sure my husband was available to watch the kids all day, so that I could sand and immediately get at least the primer on - I didn't want to again leave exposed metal and risk developing surface rust.  

I sprayed about 3 coats of the red paint to correct some unevenness, then gave my final coat of paint at least a day to dry before my husband and I put everything back together with new stainless steel outdoor bolts.  I could have been finished at that point, but decided to be more ambitious.  I had read on some Martha Stewart post that it is a good idea to apply carnauba wax (which is the main ingredient in some car waxes, like Turtle Wax) to metal patio furniture annually to help protect it from the elements.  I thought this sounded like a great idea, and figured it would make the glider look shinier too.   Wrong...at least for someone like me who is not experienced with using carnauba wax.  I bought some Turtle Wax at an auto parts store, applied it, let it dry to a haze as instructed, then tried buffing it off.  I ended up with a streaky, dull, hazy looking coat on my glider, even after buffing as hard as I could - this was quite disappointing after all the work I had put into the refinish project and given how much I was looking forward to putting the glider to use on our patio.  So my final step of the project ended up as a cleaning step - I removed all the wax with Simple Green cleaning solution and more elbow grease.

Finally, after years, the glider refinish is done.  It is not perfect - there are some spots where paint drips are still visible and areas that show slight unevenness in sheen - but I am happy with it.  

My lessons:  

• Use thick disposable plastic sheeting for paint stripping next time instead of a nice tarp (at least I think this will hold up to the Citristrip paint stripper that I used).  It should have occurred to me beforehand, but stripping paint is a very, very messy job that is not fun to clean up.  I find it much preferable to dispose of plastic sheeting than to clean stripper sludge and paint flecks off of a good tarp.
• When refinishing metal, make sure there there is a sufficient block of time to move from one step of the project to the next without extensive breaks in between so as to prevent rust from developing during down time.  After stripping the glider, it was more than a week before I was able to start sanding, and surface rust had started to develop.

• When spray painting, I need to do a better job of covering all areas with plastic sheeting prior to beginning.  I forgot just how far the spray paint mist travels, and we definitely have a fine layer of red paint mist on parts of the garage floor and some items in the garage.  I think I got everything critical covered sufficiently, and some of the fine paint may wear off with time or a good washing, but meanwhile, it is a bit unsightly.  If I'm able to create plastic "walls," with one side open to the outside for ventilation, that might be the best option next time.
• Wear shoes that can be specifically designated for painting projects.  Not only were the tops of my shoes covered in paint mist, but the soles acquired a thick layer of paint from walking on the plastic sheeting during painting. The sheeting was VERY sticky with paint.  As I walked around spraying the glider, I was like a cat with tape stuck to it's paws - I would lift a foot and shake it to detach the sheeting before moving on and doing the same on my next step.  (This is also a good reason to weight down the edges of the sheeting - it helps provide resistance and helps the sheeting to detach from sticky feet more easily.)  I'm sure I was a sight, lifting my feet high and shaking them as I gingerly walked around my project in my ventilator mask, eye protection, and holey, baggy, paint-splotched, 1980's-style hunter green sweat pants with a sagging waist band.

• Not everything advocated by Martha Stewart (in this case, carnauba wax on spray painted metal patio furniture) works well for those of us who are closer to being domestic demons than domestic gods/goddesses.