Bumps and Berries

No one told me that 9 year old girls can be moodier than a woman 9 months pregnant and ready to pop. In retrospect, perhaps I should have picked up one of those Chicken Noodle Soup parenting books.

The past few days have been particularly trying. GG has been walking around with a holier than thou attitude, then reverts to a pouting 2 year old when she is told to do something for the 50th time, ie. putting her shoes on the shoe rack instead of in the middle of the floor.

Sunday night was a very rough night for both of us. It was one of those nights where I could hear the words loudly leaving my mouth and I knew in my head I did not like how I sounded. I vowed Monday would be a better day. We hit a few road bumps Monday, but overall things were smooth like butter. Until.....


GG has a strawberry plant. Her seeds we planted earlier in the summer didn't seem to take, so Little Dude and I bought her a new plant. We transferred it to a new pot and hoped for the best. Us girls kept a watchful eye on the strawberry plant. We'd smile at every berry as it began to turn red, only to be disappointed as each one would rot. A friend suggested the plant was not getting enough water, so we became vigilant about watering every night.

Soon the leaves doubled in size. Yet no flowers were t be seen. Until last week. We spotted 2 flowers with a tiny berry in the middle. I noticed one berry disappeared within a few days. I chalked t up to yet another berry rotting. But the second berry began to grow. As it grew, it also began to turn red.

Last night, GG wanted to finally pick her first berry. I told her to give the berry one more day to make sure it was fully red and ready to eat. Not even an hour later, Little Dude and I walked past her beloved strawberry plant as we were taking the garbage to the curb. The one and only berry was gone. It was not in the pot. It was not in the grass. It was not in the cracks of the sidewalk. Gone.

I can only assume a chipmunk, squirrel, or rabbit found itself a nice red snack. GG, who was finally emerging from her foul mood, was pushed back into her funk.

The good mom that I am, I turned to the Google for help. What I learned was the vines growing from her plant are called runners. On each runner are baby plants. These can be placed in pots so next year we have more than one plant. I also learned how to care for strawberry plants during the winter months, which can be brutal here.

I shared my findings with GG and I watched a smile finally cross her face. We were able to end the night on a good note, and that makes me very happy.

Now we just all need to pray that my thumb stays green long enough to yield some fresh strawberries in the Spring.



Until next time...