When I was little, I had a children’s book that stayed in my head for years.
I cannot remember every detail now, but I remember the feeling of it.
A little girl had been dressed up beautifully for a garden tea party because the vicar was coming. Everything had to be neat, proper and presentable.
She hated it.
The clothes were fussy, the occasion was stiff, and she was trapped inside somebody else’s idea of how a little girl ought to look.
Eventually, she escaped the whole performance, got herself out of the uncomfortable finery and ended up hiding under the table in her underclothes, having a wonderful time while the adults eventually saw the funny side.
Obviously, children’s books are handled differently now, and rightly so, so Doodle Does was never going to copy that scene literally.
But the feeling behind it stayed with me.
Being Proper Is Exhausting
Children spend a surprising amount of time being told to tidy up.
Tidy your clothes.
Tidy your hair.
Sit nicely.
Do not get dirty.
Do not climb that.
Do not spill that.
Try not to look as though you have just been dragged backwards through a hedge.
And sometimes, yes, that is sensible.
But sometimes we become so focused on making children look presentable that we forget they are supposed to be having a childhood.
That was the bit I wanted to keep.
Doodle Was Supposed to Be Free
I wanted Doodle to feel comfortable rather than polished.
I did not want lots of fussy clothes, matching accessories or anything that made the character feel too precious.
Because the second something becomes precious, somebody starts worrying about ruining it.
And children are exceptionally talented at ruining things.
Usually within seven minutes.
Doodle needed to be able to run, fall over, explore, get muddy, make a mess and carry on without anybody worrying about whether everything still looked neat.
That is the whole point.
And Doodle is hardly built for elegance anyway.
At one point, a snail is sneezed straight out of Doodle’s nose.
Which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the level of sophistication we were aiming for.
Once a snail has exited your nose, matching accessories have rather lost the argument.
Messy Can Be Happy
There is something wonderfully freeing about not trying to look perfect.
Children already know this.
Give them a choice between sitting beautifully in spotless clothes or digging a massive hole in the garden and finding a worm, and the worm has a very strong chance of winning.
They are not thinking about whether their hair looks right.
They are thinking:
LOOK AT THIS MASSIVE WORM.
And frankly, there is something quite healthy about that.
Maybe Adults Need a Bit of Doodle Too
Somewhere along the way, adults get very good at presenting themselves.
The right clothes. The right house. The right photos. The right version of ourselves for other people.
We become tidy.
Sometimes far too tidy.
Doodle is a little reminder that life does not always have to be beautifully arranged before you are allowed to enjoy it.
Wear the comfortable thing.
Make the mess.
Laugh too loudly.
Get grass on your knees.
Let something be imperfect.
Because being perfectly presented might look lovely.
But being free is much more fun.
Think someone could use this?
If this made you think of someone, share it with them. Sometimes the right words find people at exactly the right time.
Meet Doodle
Doodle Doesn’t Like That!
A funny, muddy picture book about being yourself, celebrating differences and discovering that perfect is not always best.
