Mud, Mud Everywhere

We have a partially unfinished yard which leads to mud.  I'm sure you can imagine what has happened with warming temperatures, melting snow, and dirt in the yard.  I've observed that mud brings much joy to the little people in my life, but it also leaves the mom with a pile of laundry, shoes and a front porch to hose down.  Most of the time I say a resounding NO! to a mud bath, but I have a lingering childhood memory in which my Mom said yes to mud.  I have to say, that the experience was a joyful one for me.  I picture myself splashing, running and laughing as I relished in an opportunity to play in the messy stuff.  This memory crops up occasionally when I issue my warning of stay out of the mud!  Of course, I rarely get complete compliance to my instructions, let's be honest, dirt mixed with water is just really hard to resist when you are five.  So, a couple of weeks ago when I was out hosing off a pair of jeans during a February snow storm, I had to think back to one of my mud baths years ago when my mom said yes to mud.