Although the weekend was slated to focus on all things Father’s Day, I had committed to fairy gardening time with my older daughter on Friday evening. Because she’s a tweenager, she changed her mind at the last minute and let me know that she didn’t really want to do that (even though it had been her idea). She played with friends instead, but that allowed me the chance to assemble the latest piece to surprise her. (Was this my first day of parenting? You would think so.)
We started with this. It’s about 6′ tall and is fairly light. We had to secure the shelves with extra screws and drill holes into the trays for drainage.
She returned home to find the garden near completion. I couldn’t wait to show her because of course she would be thrilled! I could sense her absolute joy by the way tears immediately welled up in her eyes, her lower lip turned down and quivered, and she said quietly “You did it without me. Why didn’t you wait for me, Mommy?”
You’re kidding me, right?? Big ugh.
I thought she was going to love it and instead I 100% hurt her feelings. (Because my doofus self believed her when she said that she didn’t want to do it – rookie mom move!)
Having taken sufficient time off for the day, my experienced parent brain switched back on as it sensed my impending crash and burn. I responded ever so casually, “I didn’t finish it.” (False) “There’s a whole box of stuff here for you to add.” (True but I had completely forgotten about the box until that moment. This was divine intervention because even God couldn’t watch me flop that badly.) “I just set up the basics, so you could focus on the important parts.” She viewed me with skepticism but switched into fairy decor overdrive as soon as she found the box. Thank you sweet cheeze-its for all of that fairy goodness.
She and I both love gardening, but we have vastly different styles of how to approach it. I am of the school of thought that believes that less is more. She is of the school of thought that believes that my school of thought can suck it because only more is more and everything should have more if more is an option. So she ransacked her box of more (more everything), and the end result was a rather dynamic display.
To me, it’s like “Hoarders” meets “Lord of the Rings” meets “Game of Thrones” (minus any nip action). She thinks it’s the cats pajamas, and that reason is enough for me to adore it as well.
You can see her stories in each little section. She’s so creative and clever, and ultimately, she’s happy. In her mind, we assembled all of it together.
I want her to recall these moments with me with genuine fondness. My hope is that she will remember the way we created these little gardens together. My wish is for her to keep dreaming and embracing joy in the smallest of things. Hopefully our little fairy gardens will instill a bit of magic in her heart and soul that she will keep with her always.
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” – Willy Wonka
I send wishes for magic, miracles and joy for you all.
***MoJo***
Momentum of Joy 