Determination or How Did You Get Dirt On Your Face?

Determination, a word that seems to describe my children (and I think most others). When they set their minds to do something we all need to watch out. When they set their minds to a safe, non-destructive, mom-approved activity everything is great. It is when they set their minds to do something that is unsafe, destructive and most certainly not mom-approved that I cringe, and then most often end up yelling. My oldest, who is four, has a weakness for cookies. He can’t help but try to sneak them. I have found him with cookies all over the house at different times. His favorite place to eat contraband cookies is in his bed under the blanket. Which then means that I need to punish him for sneaking the cookies, and then I have to change his sheets.

I try to keep the cookies up high, but as he has grown “up high” has changed. It used to be that on the kitchen counter was “up high”. No longer, now on top of the refrigerator is “up high”. It still didn’t stop him from trying yesterday. I found him on a stool reaching as high as he could trying to get those cookies.

Determined is also a word that describes the garden. Volunteers is what they are called. The plants that just grow whether you want them to or not. I have found many volunteers as a result of the great seed mixing/spillage. Radish plants that have sprouted even though they will not make it. Like these sprouting between the slats in the deck.

We also had a tomato plant that we purchased that was in a container that was very small. It was probably okay when we purchased it, but since we have to wait 2 more weeks before we can plant anything in the ground at the new house, it has outgrown the small starter pot it was in. It was really trying hard to grow. Again the word determined comes to mind. So the boys and I got a pot ready for it. Playing in the dirt is always a welcome activity with them, especially when mom gets dirty too. We got the tomato planted.

The boys got dirty.

Everybody was happy.

An update on the beans: as I suspected four of the five bean plants did make it. The fifth just had too much trauma. However, I did find one more that had been thrown further than the dog water, the day after the tragic event happened. Determined. This poor little bean plant was still alive and trying. So I replanted it and I can report that several days later the little plant is still alive and seems to be doing well.