Toddler = Messy

I have never been more patient in my life than I am now. My OCD was on high before I had my son, and now it's on medium. I only wipe our coffee table about 5 times a day instead of 10, so I guess you can say I have half improved. When Amari started to walk, like any child, he explored and got into things. Being someone with minor OCD, this was tough. I allowed him to make mess because this was part of his development, and it made me happy to see him learning, and happy. I did, however, struggle to cope with mess and would be on my hands and knees half the day. I had two choices, either I live with the mess, or teach our son how to clean up after himself. Honestly though, it was important for us to teach our son to pick up after himself, and now he just loves to clean. I never have to tell him what to wipe down next; he loves it so much he asks me. He takes off his shoes before entering the house, and even places his half eaten apple in a bowl. Oh yes, we have trained the little prince well. (I wonder how long this will last) I do remember the days of toilet paper everywhere, and potty training which usually ended up with peeing on the carpet. Those were some trying days. The other day, our son had a playdate, and when we got to the little boys playroom, Amari had said aloud, "Look mommy, a tornado." How embarrassing. Maybe I shouldn't have taught him that. Looking back, maybe it wasn't right for me to be so uptight about mess with a toddler. We did however spend a lot of time outside, and both got the little bit of Vitamin D England has to offer. How do you let go, and allow your kids to get messy, and how messy do you let them get before you lose your mind? Is it wrong that I secretly don't want my child to play with play-dough at home (he still does)? What's the secret to being ok with mess? I would love to hear how you cope with mess. Are you the type of parent that says I would rather spend time playing than cleaning? Amari's quote of the day, "Mommy, we can't play basketball until we put the toys away or we might hurt ourselves." Yep, that's my boy.