The other day, I dug 16 holes in the front yard for all the new plants I'd bought. Unfortunately, that night I got sick with a stomach bug, so the holes sat for a few days before I could get out to put the plants in them.
This morning Sariah and I ventured outside to plant. As I got my supplies out, I could hear my neighbor two doors' down revving up her weedeater and at the same time beginning a continual tirade of "Get out of my way!" to her two boys who anxiously wanted to be involved in everything she was doing. I felt for her. I kind of wanted Sariah to go play by herself too so I could get all of these 16 plants in the ground before it started to rain. Yet I couldn't help but think of how I've been wanting to incorporate more of the Waldorf way into our lives, and now here was my chance to share nature with my child, and was I going to throw that away because I was too busy to be bothered by having her help me? I took a deep breath as Sariah began flinging trowel-fuls of dirt everywhere, and consciously chose to enjoy these moments of family gardening.
Within five minutes I had one of the neighbor boys at my side too. And eventually, his brother joined us as well.
It took me awhile to get into the swing of doing this all "together", but I was able to relax and patiently guide little hands to dump compost in just the right spot in each hole. I listened to them jabber and tried to answer all their questions about what I was doing and why. It forced me to slow down and feel the process rather than just rushing through to get the job done. It made me consciously think about my priorities and the values I want to share with my kids and their friends.
I feel renewed! There is nothing like a combination of hard work, dirt, and "just being" with small children to make you feel like you did something really wonderful with your day!
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