Our Little Gardener

I was thinking about our garden recently, our garden in relationship to children to be more specific. I had always considered land ownership a luxury. A great blessing, but not in anyway needful or really useful other than its recreational benefits. However, I think my view has changed a little.

Russ and I often talk about wanting to teach our children the value of hard work. We want them to know what it is like to labor for the good of the family. We want them to take pride in a difficult job well done. It's incredible that we live in a society where parents actually have to plan and think about how to make this happen for their children. Our society has become so affluent that our kids could grow up with everything handed to them on a silver platter. But I digress.

It seems to me that land would facilitate many lessons in hard work. Gardening, whether vegetable or flower, is certainly one way to teach kids how to persevere in a difficult task and then take joy in the fruits of their labor. I'm sure all parents, land owners or not, can teach their kids about hard work. But land might more easily facilitate the process. Just a thought.