Breaking the Rules of Jell-o

During today's after school treat, my son (5) looks at my daughter (3) with a look of disgust & shouts:  "Use a spoon, Abbey!  You're breaking the rules of Jell-o!!!"

That's one of the many things that's seemingly fun about life at the ripe age of three - the rules of Jell-o and the like.  Can they really be broken? 

At lunch today I watched my daughter stick her spaghetti noodle into her straw shortly after she had shouted at my lunch date to return the parmesan cheese shaker on the table back to the basket in the table where it's friends, salt & pepper, were lonely.  That's right - my three year old told an adult to put something where it belongs after she had just stuck a noodle down her straw...

Wouldn't life be slightly better if we could occasionally play with our food, if we could occasionally leave something out of place, crumbs in corners, and dust on bottles?  It's like that old country song that said we shouldn't let a little dust on the bottle fool us about what's inside, because it only gets better with time.

I'm not saying that we can't clean up the messes we make, but it can be fun to make them...messes make life more entertaining and more interesting. 
See evidence below:

Exhibit A - A meal at the grandparents' house is much more exciting for all if there's a show:

"Spoon, what spoon?"

Exhibit B:  Should only our first birthdays be reserved for such fun?

Exhibit C:  Clearly spaghetti is much more fun, maybe even more tasty, without utensils...both of my kids refuse to eat it these days unless it is PLAIN.

Exhibit D:  Big Brother, you were once a messy kid, too.  Don't pick on your little sister.

Exhibit E: A Yogurt Beard = Awesome. 

Mommy loves you, Miss Mess (even though this clean up took at least an hour)!

And finally...

Exhibit F:  Witness my husband enjoying this mess with his childhood dog, Nicky.  Looks like he was caught having fun.  Did he eat Nicky's food?  Did he enjoy it?

*Permission for this incriminating photo was granted*

That's right, kids, even we "adults" made messes at one time or another in our lives.  Someone helped us clean them up when we were little.  Now, that we're big we're sometimes forced to take care of them on our own. 

Enjoy your messes!  Be proud.  Make them as BIG as you can. 

Break the rules, especially the rules of Jell-o, while you can.