The kids know it and use it to their advantage.
We have this terrible dirt garden in our sun room. It is awful because the kids LOVE it! Dominic and Scarlett will literally spend hours digging in the dirt and I spend hours trying to get them clean again. When I am tired or having a "do whatever you want" sort of day, they take advantage of their backyard dirt pit freedom and I read a book. It is a win win sort of break from the norm, where I spend the day trying to think of things to do and they spend the day trying to think of things they shouldn't do.