Hence the lollipop garden:
We grew lollipops in our backyard last week. We all needed the diversion and this was great fun. Only the two smallest of our children understood it to be very real, of course, and all it takes are jelly bean seeds and a few hours to grow! Elizabeth (6) almost tripped us up with her secret planting of one single is-this-for-real jelly bean seed:
She was kind enough to let Daddy in on the secret so she was happily surprised that it actually grew. :+)
There was a time when I would never have done this. I would have considered it tricking the children. I don't think that way anymore. It is OK to have a little magic and mystery in one's childhood. It is OK to allow them to wonder just *how* a jelly bean turned into a lollipop in only a few hour's time. It is OK that there are fairies in the world when you are four and six. They learn all too quickly that the world is not made up of strawberry lollipops and candy cane gardens. It was pure joy to see their faces--and the big ones too!
Enjoy those little ones, ladies. They are not little for very long.
10 comments:
Kate~
I love the lollipop garden~ that is a great idea!
I totally agree~ our kids are only little once, and it certainly doesn't last long enough, does it?
Keep enjoying them,
Heidi
Though I don't dawn my tu-tu any more and pretend I am a ballerina on a music box, I can still sing all the songs.
The lolly pop garden is too cute. OK here's a confession - for a brief while all of my kids have believed I am the tooth fairy. I grow wings when all the children are asleep and fly around to deliver silver coins and love notes. So when their little cousins spill the beans and tell them,"Your Mom is the tooth fairy" they say, "I know, isn't it great!?" This only lasts a few years ... but the older ones continue to keep the fun going for the others.
I love this! You are creating memories that the children will remember for years. That is what is so precious, and they remember fun times with Mom and Dad. You have their hearts!
I loved your comments on mothers, too. Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.
Blessings to you!
Chris
That is so cute! Growing lollipops in the garden - I love it! I haven't seen "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in a long while, but I agree that it is a cute movie. I love Dick van Dyke.
Oh! We enjoyed that movie too!
My kids would love a lollipop garden...it wouldn't last long.... my 3 year old would pick them and eat them in record speed.
a-mothersmusing@blogspot.com
I just wanted to pop in and say that I grew jelly beans with my kids today! I used your idea, and we planted jelly beans in the front garden. We came back in the house, checked on them later—nothing growing yet. The kids were so excited and filled with such anticipation to see what would happen. I told them that I wasn’t sure what was going to happen—only that I heard if you lay special jelly beans in the sun, they will grow to something fun to eat! After a while, we went back outside, and there were our lollipops! They were SO amazed! My 7 year old daughter tried to plant more. Yes, she actually stayed in the garden waiting for more lollipops to grow! And would you believe my 9 year old son actually fell for the whole thing! He couldn’t understand why Rachel’s jelly beans weren’t growing a second time! I just looked at him like “do you really believe those jelly beans grew into lollipops?” It was really cute, but also an eye opener on how easily my children can be fooled—makes me want to make sure that I have a constant eye on them! And I must confess that I did end up explaining to them how the whole thing worked. It was just too pitiful watching my 7 year old stare at those jelly beans, waiting for them to grow!
I really want to say thanks, Kate, for helping me be such a fun mom today!
Michele
My seven year old LOVED the picture of the lollipops!! He was sitting with me while I was blog hopping and he made me stop at this post and just let him look for awhile. I could see the wheels turning in his head, wondering if anything so wonderful might sprout in his mom's flowerpots!!
Of course I would want my flowerpots to sprout something chocolate!!
Kelli in TN @ New Mercies Every Day
http://newmercieseverday.blogspot.com/
I was reading your old post on Math U See.
Thank you for all the wonderful review information.
Chitty is one of our all time favorite movies. It's fun to watch as an adult and "get" all the cute things like her name "Truly Scrumptuous" and I admit we chase the children around singing the King and Queen's song trying to squeeze their cheeks- on both ends!!! "You're my little teddy bear OOH! my oochie woochie koochie little teddy bear!" (wish I could put a more modest queen's gown on her there though, lol)
Anyway, I am going to try this cute lollipop surprise for my dd! I love to see here eyes grow huge with wonder :)
~Jen at heartmatters
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