Last week I begin planting in my home garden. This year I actually had a garden plan on paper (thank you Rose Ryan /http://harvesthomeorganics.blogspot.com/, and everything was perfectly measured out so I could get the maximum planting space. I headed outside armed with packets of seeds, my plan and my shovel. Then, guilt set in so I went back inside and got a tape measure so I could measure the spots. Well, it was a 25 ft tape measure and my garden is 33 feet long but it was close enough..right?! After I marked the center line with 2 sticks I found I began to do the horizontal rows this time using a broken yard stick I found. It had the first 22 inches on it so again, good enough. After getting 2 rows done and planting about 30 onions I stepped back to admire my work. Yeah, not so much. Straight? Yes, if you tilt your head slightly. Even spacing? That depends on what you consider even. It looked mediocre at best. The worst part about all this is I hated it. It probably really doesn't matter how straight the rows are but it was starting to look like a disaster which means if I continued this pattern for the next 30 feet I would run out of space, mess up my plan and have a hodgepodge. Ironically, I do love a well kept garden (esp considering my lack of prep). Thankfully my farmer came to my rescue. When he got home he took one look at my tools, shook his head and headed to the garage. He came back armed with a long flexible measuring tape, string, stakes, and some sunscreen. After we measured the entire garden and reviewed my plan we worked on marking all the rows and he even got as detailed as marking them for me. As I proceeded to finish up some of my early planting and he moved on to another yard project I began to smile. I knew when I started he would end up coming to my rescue, partly because knows my inability to make straight lines and because he is all about the prep work and knew I'd be happier in the end when everything fit..nice and straight. (you should see what happens when we paint, he has tape, rags, dropcloth....I have a brush, a can and maybe a paper towel on hand!!) For all my laziness when it comes to prep I sure do like admiring my garden midsummer when everything is nice and orderly! (pics later this summer)
Later that day I thanked my husband again for his garden help and he simply said "it's all about the prep" and he is totally right. Our daughter will be entering kindergarten this fall and we just brought her to orientation at the elementary school. She is over the moon. In her eyes school can't start soon enough, the friends, the learning, the teachers, the FUN, she just wants to get there NOW!! As parents we always strive to push our kids to be independent and confident. We never let them say the can't do something, they must try it first and although this discussion doesn't always go smoothing they usually end up realizing they they can do it and they do like whatever they were so anxious about. We tell them when things are going to be hard or less than pleasant (dental work, shots) but we also tell them they will be fine and get through it. I think with kids, like tree planting or garden planning, it's all about the prep.
Prepare them for what's to come. Yes, shelter them from bad things they don't need to know about (crazy bombers and shooters) but prepare them for life. We need to let them know some things will be really tough and sometimes they will get their feelings hurt or won't be the best at a certain activity. We also need to tell them they can do it, they are strong, smart, a good friend, capable and most importantly, when things don't go their way that they will be just fine. It's all about the prep.
Part of my prep is timing my activities to sync with when someone will come home to catch me..and then help :)
