This mom explains why she allows her child to use crayons on hardwood flooring

Kids make messes (especially toddlers). You clean ‘em up, and then they make more messes. But one TikTok mom intentionally allowed her two-year-old daughter to use crayons on hardwood flooring, explaining that she was “healing [her] inner child” by encouraging her instead of yelling at her.

Kira Osuna shared the clip to TikTok, where it racked up nearly 393,000 views and a few hundred comments, several from fellow parents who expressed concern over the crayon mess left behind. But Osuna explained why she intentionally allowed her daughter to color on the floor, revealing in the comments section that growing up, she would have been “screamed at” if she made a mess. So it seems she wants to make things different for her own daughter.

“Healing my inner child is letting my 2 year old color on the kitchen floor while I’m cooking,” she captioned the clip. “She asked me first and I said yes. She tried to ask if she could color on the cabinet and I said no and she listened. She knows this is only allowed right here. But she had the most fun and it can all be cleaned.”

Adding that she’s “trying to give her the happiest childhood,” she told TODAY.com that she made sure to set some boundaries about which household surfaces are OK for coloring. “I said yes to the floor but no to the cabinets — and the living room — to draw a boundary so she wouldn’t think surfaces were a free-for-all.”

Many comments were supportive, with one person writing: “Ironically the people that are upset at this are the children who weren’t given freedom to do things like this. Keep doing you mama ” Another added: “THIS is how a true artist is created the possibilities are endless. If you’re upset, you obviously don’t make room creativity in your life ” Several even provided suggestions to make for easier cleanup, such as using chalk or chalkboard paint instead. 

But for the handful of irked commenters, Osuna shared a follow-up video. “For anyone panicking with my last post, floor is all clean and it took a full one minute to mop. Oh yeah, and my 2 year old is the one who cleaned it,” she noted.

“My dad often said no and my mom was good at saying yes, as long as no one was harmed,” Osuna told TODAY.com. “Seeing both viewpoints made me realize the benefits of saying yes. I’d rather foster my daughter’s creativity and instill confidence while she’s safely exploring the world at home — and with the consequence of cleaning up. It’s a teachable moment.”

“I make a conscious effort to say yes because I don’t want to pass off my anxiety to my daughter,” she continued, adding that she lets her little one jump in rain puddles and use “big kid” equipment at the playground, all under close supervision.

Of the naysayers, she said, “People are acting like I handed my daughter a steak knife. I think people fear what they don’t understand.”

Overall, it seems her gentle parenting approach is working well. “My daughter is capable of so much because I let her try things when she’s young,” she added. Of course, as with anything parenting-related, people are always going to have a lot to say — especially on social media — but as long as no one’s getting hurt and she’s learning boundaries, respect, and all that good stuff, a few crayon marks on the floor is truly NBD in the grand scheme of life. 

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