Did you learn anything?
How about the second time you made the mess? Did you learn anything then?
Yesterday the boys and I were playing outside (well, I was sitting outside writing postcards to my 3 year old choir and the boys were playing…) and it was a little warm. J came inside to get something to drink - remembering that his cup - without a lid! - was on the kitchen counter. A moment later J comes back outside to tell me that “I spilled some milk on purpose. It was an accident.” (well, he’s learning the words, now lets work on the definitions.)
I came inside to get some paper towels for him to clean up the floor and lower kitchen cabinets while I cleaned the counter and the higher parts of the cabinets. Not even waiting until I had finished, I watched J, the 39 inches that he is, pick up his cup (he dumped out C’s cup initially, I guess thinking it was his, or not caring that it was C’s, just seeing if C had something better than his own milk, maybe?! Who knows, this is J we’re talking about!).
I watched J pick up his cup, tilt it sideways to see what was in it, since he couldn’t see into it from his vantage point on the floor, and milk proceeded to pour out of it onto the counter. Again. Onto the counter. Onto the floor.
Okay, J didn’t figure it out the first time that stuff in a cup will pour out, some of it onto you, if you turn a cup sideways). This time after the milk spilled I told him that it would be better to pick up the cup from now on and bring it down to him to look inside the cup instead of tilting it.
Think J and I will be cleaning up another mess like this?
Oh, I failed to mention that there is a step stool in the kitchen food prep area the the kids use often to get stuff off of the counter and to help me cook. Why wasn’t the stool used to look inside the milk cup while it was still on the counter?
No use crying over spilled milk. (Sorry, I just had to add that! 
)