Gardening and Hallowe’en and Rock Boobs

It is far too nice a day to waste indoors. We scoop up some bulbs I bought that couldn’t be planted in last month’s unseasonably warm temperatures, and head out the door. Since it’s forecast to get colder after today and certainly won’t hit this week’s balmy temperatures (24C, 75F) until, oh, next JUNE, I think we’d best get those things planted.

And since I’m busy gardening, perhaps I will let the tots tell you about their morning…

Mary rakes the leaves off the garden. Gently, gently, so she doesn’t hurt the flowers that are still there. She makes a pile of leaves in the driveway. (We stay ON. THE. DRIVEWAY. We don’t go on the sidewalk, because it’s too close to the street! Anna! Anna you don’t go onna sidewalk! ANNA! That’s better.)

Then we pile the leaves into the leaf bin. We love dropping leave in the bin. I can hold one, two, free, five, sebben, four leaves in my hands. We could drop leaves ALL DAY. (And they will, at that rate.) Sometimes we try to drop other things in the bin, too, but Mary makes us take those out.

“That’s Malli’s Raggedy Anne, not leaves.”
“The cat wants his ball, Nigel. Put this stick in instead.”
“Garbage goes in the garbage can, Timmy. And don’t touch that thing anyway, it’s disgusting.” (It’s NOT disgusting! It’s interesting! And maybe tasty — and now it’s in the garbage. Mary is FAST, sometimes.)

And then we dig holes in the garden. Amazing! Mary has kept us out of the garden ALL SUMMER LONG. We’re not even allowed to come into the garden, not even a little bit, not even once. We don’t even put ONE TOE in the garden. Because there are flowers in there and the flowers need soft dirt to grow in and no stepping on them. And now Mary’s digging holes ALL OVER THE GARDEN, AND she’s telling us to come in!! And drop rocks in the holes!!

They’re not rocks? They look like rocks. They’re seeds? SEEDS? A special kind of seed, called a boob. Not boob? Bulb? A bulb is a kind of rock. Which Mary thinks will grow into flowers in the spring, which is what comes after the winter, which is when there is snow all over, which is very cold white stuff that falls instead of rain. In the winter we will dress in very warm clothes and play in the snow. Winter comes after Hallowe’en, which is next week. I am going to have my Hallowe’en with my mummy and daddy when they give me a costume to wear and we go outside and shout “Trick or treat” and people give us candies and then we say “Thank you”. I am going to have MY Hallowe’en, not YOU, Malli …

“I have a Hallowe’en, too!”
“No, I will!”
“No, ME!”
“NO, ME!”
“ME, ME, ME, ME, MINE HALLOWE’EN!”

Mary says everybody has a Hallowe’en, and Hallowe’en is a time, not a thing. But I will go with MY mummy at Hallowe’en.

“MY mummy!”
“No, MY mummy!”
“NO, MINE MUMMY!”

Mary says we’ll each go with our own mummy when we get our Hallowe’en. My mummy will get me MY Hallowe’en!

“No, MY Hallowe’en!”
“NO! MY Hallowe’en!”
“NO!! MY MUMMY GET MY HALLOWE’EN!!!”

Mary says we need to go inside now because it’s nap time.

And I still think they’re rocks.