Learning how to garden with a two year old...

16 years ago

Having a child at an "advanced maternal age" has many pluses but definitely takes adapting. Having been gardening now for the ten years we've been in our house I've grown accustomed to life as a solo gardener. My darling daughter is now two and two, I'm learning, is NOT the same as gardening with an infant or even a one year old. This past weekend I bought a flat of pansies expecting they would get planted in short order. "Hep Mommy hep" and "hep" my daughter did. Hours later 3/4 of the flat were removed from their pots and in the middle of the sidewalk. I snuck them in eventually when DD got bored. Last night I learned a new part of this "hepping." DD saw those lovely flowers and said "fwowers Mommy fwowers." Yes my darling they are fwowers. Then my sweet daughter unplanted 3/4 of the flat and put them back into the middle of the sidewalk. Somehow I don't think that my garden is going to be at its best this year but hey, I'm getting lots of "hep."

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Comments (14)

Pidge
16 years ago
Oh well, pansies don't like hot weather, anyway, so maybe your DD is on to something! Or else she thinks they grow on cement.............
Pidge
16 years ago
I forgot to say that it's a great pleasure to see you back here, Janet. Yours is a voice I've missed around this place.
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andie_rathbone
16 years ago
LOL! What a great story! Maybe you should channel her energy into an area of her own where she can let her "creativity" run wild and your garden just might survive.
firstkim
16 years ago
Whatever you do, Janet, don't let her see you weeding, or she's liable to "hep" you out of an entire garden!
lindac
16 years ago
Sounds like Darling Daughter needs a sand box, and perhaps some Fwowers of her own....the artificial kind that can be planted and un planted almost endlessly.
And remember, that's where it starts, "heping" mommy. Show her how the fwowers like to have their feet in the soil and how they like water and need to grow. Get some seeds for her...nasturtiums are easy for little fingers and grow fairly fast and are forgiving of a lack of water.
My first experience in planting was onion sets....and I loved onions....still do!
Linda C
meldy_nva
16 years ago
A 4' square of her own, edged so that the plants "can't run away" filled with edibles -- onions are a great idea since they can pretty much survive in spite of being pulled up every couple days to see if they've grown. A tiny sprinkling can is also useful, especially if she has to toddle 20 feet to the big bucket to refill. It's amazing the distractions that can be found in that twenty foot distance.

firstkim is so right about the weeding. I played 'plant identification' when DD was two (what is the name of this leaf?) with much repetition, but unfortunately she never forgot the first time she waved a dandelion in my face and I answered, "Oh, it's a dam dandelion!" For several years those plants were all called damlions.
tibs
16 years ago
And when you really want to get something done, that maybe involves "dangerous tools". You get up really early and take the baby minder with you so you can here her when she wakes up. Or get a miners light so you can work after dark. Someone posted here years ago that they did that. That way, you can enjoy the time with dd "heping" you without getting frustrated at not getting done all that needs done.
rob333 (zone 7b)
16 years ago
Ha! Linda, that's how I got my son to love carrots; he grew his own. Course, he ate his share of dirt at 18 months. Maybe that's what's wrong with him? I remember why I started gardening in the earliest morning hours of the day now... to get a head start. No, but seriously, have fun with her Janet. They're lots of fun in the garden. Kids and soil go hand-in-hand, the little dirt mongers.
Pidge
16 years ago
LOL--a miner's light to garden in the dark? Now, THAT is determination.
Anyway, by next year she will have moved on. I think it's great that you are just having fun with her and sharing the stories with us.
janetm_md
Original Author
16 years ago
Once she figures out how to use Mommy's pruning shears I'm going to be in REAL trouble. Right now she grabs them but then doesn't know what to do. Drives my parents crazy when they see me letting her hold them;-)
instar8
16 years ago
I only gardened with such a child (my grandgirl, who will be 3 in July) a day or two a week last year.

Conclusion: babysitting days are great for enjoying the patio, picking mulberries/strawberries/anything else you can eat on the spot, quick garden tours and whatever you can squeeze in during that glorious afternoon nap...i have a good portable baby monitor!

I'm thinking mommy's garden time is Daddy's bonding time??
andie_rathbone
16 years ago
I remember my niece & her friend coming to our house in St. Louis when DH was digging up a place to put a strawberry bed. They had a great time "helping" & ended up covered head to toe in mud. I had them strip down on the back porch afterwards & deposited them directly into the bathtub.

Kids in the garden may slow you down a bit, but the memories will be priceless.
mwoods
16 years ago
What will really bring a smile to your face is that years later you'll still be findiing things of hers in your gardens. Just the other day I was out in the vegetable garden and there in the corner almost under one of the pickets was something red. When I moved the dirt with my foot,I found a Hot Wheels car my grandson must have had out there when he was about 5. He's almost 15 now. I'll bet your daughter would love a sunflower house,if you have the space.
husky004_
16 years ago
Yeah I remember helping in my grandfather's garden as a kid and being out there in the spring to help weed his rosebed etc...i worked and worked to get the worst weed out only to find out it was his prized hydrangea...he forgave me eventually... lol

Learning how to garden with a two year old...

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