Our tomatoes are coming on strong this month and I have made batch after batch of salsa. This means I am eating far too many Frito-Lay products and that cilantro is coursing through my veins. Mmmm...lycopene.I love the harvest. Peach and pear picking in the orchard. Rows of pumpkins at the farm around the corner. Just a few months ago, we were digging in the dirt. And now, the kids are picking squash and cucumbers in our little backyard patch.
It feels like harvest-time in the Mommy Garden, too. Let's face it, the first 10 years of my mothering career have been challenging on many levels. A lot of dirty work. A lot of growth, but most of it underground. I've wondered if I'd ever see the fruits of my labors.
Suddenly, my children are blooming. They can put on their own shoes, play the piano, load the dishwasher. My life is no longer dictated by naptimes or body fluids. Everyone's pleasantly positioned between Desitin and Clearasil.
With colic a distant memory and puberty--hopefully--a few miles down the road, I can sit lazily in the backyard, enjoy the temporary harvest, and gather strength for the big digs soon to come.
22 comments:
Amen, sista friend. I am LOVING the stage my kids are all in. I want to keep them here forever. It's so much more fun than diapers.
I love that thought! You are so lyrical. Every stage is fun, but it is really sweet to see them start to become little capable people.
I love this post. I'm at the end of my harvest. It's sad.
So well put.I totally agree. I feel I am at that phase too and I just love, love, love it. Now I am craving garden fresh tomatoes.
Ah, just ONE MORE BABY.. and I will be there in about 5 years. Hey, I got a late start... But, I will RELISH the day when I get there!!! :)
Well put! I'm glad to hear it's fun...I'm getting a little sad that the baby stage is ending.
I love this post... I am at the same stage... comfortably between Desitin and Clearasil, but for some strange reason already dealing with mood swings and kid crushes... what's up with that?
You always say it so perfectly!! I am not quite to harvesting but I dream about it all the time.
It is the internal battle to keep my kids little, but to enjoy the fruits of the labor.
Your description of all the growing goodness and dirt digging around your parts made my heart ache a little. I wish I was somewhere I could enjoy that a little. Thanks for sharing some of it with us@!
You left out a VERY important part of that post:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH ALL OF YOUR TOMATOES. I have, like, 700.
I loved this post. I'm enjoying my tomatoes while I stock up on my Desitin and wait for my baby.
Another great post, Gabi! I also feel like my kids are becoming very capable and I enjoy watching them grow & learn. Can't wait to add to our "harvest"... but I'm also glad the'll be beyond the baby/toddler stage! That stuff is just plain hard!
You really, really MUST write a book or become a columnist for a fabulous paper. You are too talented!
I love when you said "between desitin and clearasil!" ha!
I am still in the desitin stage and loving it. I hope I can enjoy every stage!
Gabi,
So well said. I'm going to think of this everything I pick something out of my garden. I'm not all the way to harvest yet, but I imagine there are different versions of that harvest throughout life.
Maybe that's why grandparents enjoy grandchildren so much. All harvest, no weeds!
Here's to a blooming garden and children alike!
Beautiful tomatos and wonderful comments, enjoy it all!
I loved your post! I would say that we plant and harvest a number of times with these "vegetables" we mothers have been given. It is always interesting to see how the harvest turns out each fall.
This post makes me excited (and a little exhausted) thinking about the future.
Homemade salsa - YUM!
when you wrote this, did you get so excited at the part about "pleasantly positioned between desitin and clearasil"? that is masterful! nice alliteration, good imagery, wry humor... i tip my hat to you, my friend. you are a good writer.
and i second everything you said. i'm right there with you. only no garden here. send me some tomatoes. e coli-free!
Great post! Love the analogy. You say so much with so few words. I'm once again in awe.
That was beautiful. The, "between Desitin and Clearisil was so brilliantly put, too. Is it any wonder I love your writing? Phew!
It IS a lovely stage, isn't it? And lucky girl on the garden! Ours kind of whimpered and died. Hope that's not an analogy for my family...
AHHH...isn't it wonderful? I am getting close to Clearasil but I'll take it over Desitin anyday!
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