the other day my son (19 mos) picked a dandelion and brought it to me and put it in my mouth. to my knowledge, he has never seen me just pick a dandelion and eat it, as i usually take them inside and wash them before cooking them up.
i felt so much joy and pride in the fact that my little guy not only picked the right kind of plant to eat but knew that i could eat it. he picked a few clover flowers, too, but he only smelled those.
i hope this indicates fun times of foraging with me and my boy.
awesome!! ;D
That is so fucking cute!
Ah, the Joys of fatherhood.
My daughters and I grow a garden where the extra food we grow is sold locally. It’s totally organic with regular feeds of organic material. I’ve had my girls working and weeding for years in that garden, at great cost to my personal peace because of their resistance to my ideas that they should be sitting in the hot sun pulling plants from the ground.
This year my 12 year old was talking about how some of the plants were going to bolt. She didn’t know I was crying as she continued to demonstrate a fairly deep understanding about what was going on in the garden around her.
The thing that got me was that all the bitching they did and my being somewhat stubborn led to struggle and wasn’t easy, my propensity to incessantly ramble on particular subjects wasn’t hot air wasted, my own example of getting out and doing it, all combined and my daughter was showing me that she is indeed embodying what we are doing here.
Yesterday, her first day back at school from the Rabbit Stick, she came home and asked what she would have to do to be home schooled. She realized there are other kids like her and that being a home schooler didn’t mean being a dweeb.
The only thing I have ever wanted to do in this life, having early on realized the fragility of this life, is to be a dad and to pass on the knowledge of living on this earth that I have been so fortunate to have studied through application.
Good work Rix
Back at you, Crash! I love that story. It embodies what I hope for my son.
no doubt, you’ll have many more!