I’ve never been a good gardener. I forget to water my plants and within a few days they are usually dead. I figure it must be genetic; my mother suffers from the same problem. But I saw a pretty amazing thing happen this week. It is finally starting to warm up outside so Logan and I decided to spend some time working on the yard together. We spent hours digging up weeds and making things look perfect again. The next day my father took him to the store to pick out some strawberries to put in our little garden. He and Logan dug the hole together; then he taught him how to water his strawberries. This may not seem like much, but to a three year old it is a pretty big deal.
Everyday Logan has come running up to me to remind me that we need to go out and water his little garden. Good thing, too; he has a much better memory than I do! If I had been left in charge, we all know that those little strawberries would be long gone by now! This tiny little garden is teaching even my little three year to be responsible. He is taking care of it and already seeing the progress of his tiny little strawberries. How rewarding it is for him to see the fruits of his labor!
You don’t have to have a green thumb to start a little garden with your children. If you struggle with remembering to water like I do, set an alarm on your phone to help remind you. You’d be amazed at how much your child can learn through tending a garden. It teaches them to work hard and rewards them in the end. It teaches them patience, because as we all know seeds don’t grow overnight. So many little lessons from something seemingly so tiny! As an added bonus it’s a little extra time you get to spend with your kids away from the TV, and that in and of itself makes it all worth it, even without a green thumb!