I don't think it's so much that children don't know how to stay clean, as it is that they enjoy doing things it's hard not to get dirty at. And they don't particularly mind getting dirty. Afterall, what is so bad about that? Mostly, I fancy, it is the idea that we look ridiculous or incapable to other people. Practicaly speaking there are some things you can probably do a lot better if you're not fretting about how you look doing it, and there are few messes which one really can't clean up afterwards.
I've never understood why some people seem to like being scared - a totally unpleasant and inconvenient feeling if you ask me! But I suppose perhaps part of it comes from enjoying the feeling of adrenalin. I should rather get it doing things that make me supremely happy, but...to each his own...I suppose. It may also be because of the lack of real physical danger in modern society. (You know how people always seem to want what they haven't got). People, for one thing, usually persue the feeling of fear in ways that are actually relatively safe - such as horror movies and roller coasters. Thus they can achieve a sense of bravery even though the danger was never actually 'real'. Few people can, in these days, claim true acts of heroism, in anything beyond the inner battles of the mind and will. But you can win a kind of prestige from comrades by exposing yourself to all kinds of these safe dangers and showing that you are not terribly bothered by them. Whether or not this would actually prepare one for real dangers probably depends a great deal on the person, though I immagine it would help. So the honor may be to some degree deserved.
