Christian Living
This article first appeared in the Spring 2000 issue of Southern Living's Garden Guide.
As a child, I could hardly wait for my mother to tie my shoes before I went outside to greet spring mornings. Tiptoeing through the dew-laden grass, I would make my way to a bed in the side of the yard to search for newly emerged crocuses. The purple goblets peeking from the ground were the most beautiful things. There was no question that I had to pick this loveliness and deliver to Mother.
Following the depletion of the yard’s crocuses, I felt a continued sense of duty to pick all flowers (or weeds) too pretty to leave standing. But the dirt below soon caught my wandering attention. Plastic buckets and cold water from the faucet left me no choice but to discover the mixtures I could manufacture with these two ingredients. Sometimes I made mud pies, sometimes pancakes.
While my hands were encased with mud, I was not intimidated by the occasional worm. The tickle I felt as the slick critter wriggled around my hands always prompted me to giggle. Jacketed with mud and in the company of worms, I couldn’t have been happier.
In the evenings, I spent endless hours chasing fireflies. Inside Mother saved glass jars for the captured. The world was a fantastic place.
A few years ago, while attending a child development workshop, I was asked to make a quick list of my favorite childhood memories. I eagerly revisited my crocus, buttercup and mud pie days. The speaker had everyone in the room complied a hefty list of memories and reveal them in class. Everyone, excluding the speaker, was astonished by one common trait. Each memory had occurred outdoors. Her presentation clearly confirmed that our most treasured childhood times were outside.
All children must play to learn. They master life’s fundamental skills through every task they undertake. As we begin the year 2000, I wonder about the memories our times offer children. As wonderful as technology is, it can’t replace the wonders in our own backyards. It is important for us to remember to open the doors and invite the little ones out to play in the serenity of the garden, where they can play and ask questions.
So when I head out to the garden, I leave the back door open. I have yet to make it out there without my two little ones following. Hovered over my plants and up to my elbows in dirt, I am interrupted by the little voices behind me asking questions:
“Where did this acorn come from?”
“Where does the blue jay sleep?”
“How does the squirrel walk on the telephone wire?”
When I turn to answer, I am greeted by my smiling daughter with a freshly picked petunia in her hand. My son soon follows, extending his arm with the treasure he has found especially for me, a branch with a single leaf attached. There is a familiar sense of duty in the delivery that reminds me of the little girl I once was. My hope is that they remember their blissful childhood days the way I remember mine.
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