Can you keep my kid clean?

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm going to be the oddball one on this one I think lol

I COMPLETELY agree that children should be allowed to play and get dirty and explore their surroundings. However, I can also see why some parents may be a little "upset" at this. I don't know what they are planning on doing after daycare...maybe they're going to a play date, the grocery store, the mall, a relative's house, etc etc so I TRY not to send them home too dirty.

Now having said this, we do messy stuff!! All the time actually! But I do it in the morning so that it is ME that changes them into clean clothes for nap and a play outside until pickup. Water play and sometimes sand play (depending how wet it is) isn't allowed in the afternoon. If we are painting, doing chalk, water play, sensory play, mud, etc than that is in the morning. I feel that the parents are sending their child to daycare to play and have fun but as part of that deal, it will be me that does the cleaning up.

Now of course, from time to time, the kids DO go home dirty (grass stains, food stains, wet from the ground etc) but they aren't going home dirty enough that a parent would ever ask me to keep them clean. They do quite often get a bag of dirty clothes sent home though