Litterbug

One nice day in the last week we were driving down the road with the windows down and the boys were drinking those Capri-sun Roarin'Waters juice pouches. Jake decided to toss his juice pouch out of the window. Grant, my community service officer of the family, yells, "MOM, JAKE JUST LITTERED!" Then he turned to Jake and told him that he was going to get a ticket for littering. Jake, not knowing what that meant yelled back, "NO, I NOT GET ITTERED!" Always looking for the perfect opportunities to teach the boys things that I assume most parents will just pass over. (i.e. manners to service workers on their own, putting carts away at grocery stores, opening doors for people, picking things up for people, retuning lost money to the nearest proper location, etc. I have so many) I jumped on the opportunity to help them stand out in a world full of self-absorbed jerks. I said to Jake, "Jake it is a no-no to throw garbage out of the window. It that where your juice pouch goes when you are done with it?" He said "no?" I stopped the car and pulled into someone’s driveway on the street we were driving down. I explained to Grant and Jake that I would be taking Jake out of the car and holding his hand as he walked to get the juice pouch and pick it up. I told Grant to sit still and keep his eyes on Mommy. I locked the car and walked the several feet to the spot where Jake picked it up and we then turned around and walked back to the car. Once inside I told him about how we don't ever throw anything out of the car again. He may or may not, but at least I have planted the seed.
Another notable experience lately was the day we planted our seeds so they could get a head start on growing inside. I am a gardener to the bone and I can't wait for the boys to join me so they can learn all about it. Grant has picked out cantaloupe seeds and Jake picked those giant pumpkin seeds. I had little seedling starting containers and this year I upped the ante and bought seed starting soil. I showed them how to fill the cups with soil, tap them a bit against the table, and then to poke their finger into the soil a little way down to make a hole for the seed. Then I told them to have their seed babies dive into the dirty fun. I showed how to sprinkle just a bit more soil on top of the seed babies and then I gave them each a water spray bottle and we counted together on a couple of the seed babies: Spray, 1-2-3 good, spray, 1-2-3 good. They got the hint and I let them finish all of their seed babies themselves. I figure when I am trying to plant in the garden I can have them planting their seedlings and leave mine alone. One is to hope. I watched as Grant didn't do anything the way I told him to do it. I so desperately wanted to interfere, but I told myself, just one more reminder and that was it.
"Grant," I said, "soil, tap, little hole, one seed, little bit of soil on top and then spray"
"I know Mom...ahha, I am" he says
No you aren't Grant I say in my head.
I watch as Jake meticulously follows each set perfectly and am amazed at his focus on the task at hand. I laughed because each seed baby screamed as they took the plunge into the dirty fun!
When they finished I gave them each a tray to place all of their seed containers on and then I covered the seeds with Saran wrap and put them in the furnace room until the seeds began to germinate.
I kept my fingers crossed each day as we sprayed the seed babies. Finally one day Grants seeds ALL started to peak through the soil. In gardening it is quite common to have a few poopers not come up at all when growing them like this. Jake's came through the next couple of days too. What really got me was hoe sure I was that Grant's seeds were not going to come through if he didn't do it the way I thought he should do it. Grant does that to me. Life does that to me. I am so sure I know the way it needs to go. If it doesn't go this way...this exact way...it won't, it can't work. I know I have been wrong many times, but this time it meant something different to me. It reminded me of how I asked Grant about how he saw the water in the glass and he told me that he just didn't like water. IT is neither good nor bad I thought then...it just is.
There is no right or wrong way to plant seed babies, there are just ways.