acorns and rocks

LD is into nature. I started when he was small taking him on a walk every day. This stopped when we moved here because it's too cold half the year. But anyway, we always collect leaves, acorns, and rocks. We help worms by moving them from the street to the dirt and we always smell flowers and not pick them (unless he excitedly bends over to smell them and falls face first into them breaking most :-). I love his love of nature. Except when we need to get somewhere. The kid always wants to stop and smell the flowers now and if you are walking and there are flowers, you won't be walking long.

Today, after throwing a fit for me wanting to leave the library, We finally make it outside and he says "Smell the fowers mommy." He kneels down like i always do. "See it. Prett-y." When LD sees a plume of trees or nature without man or building he says "prettty. see pretty mommy!" I laugh because i used to always point out the trees to him and the pretty colors and take pictures so now any set of trees is pretty. I love it when he says it and it always makes me smile that deep smile that can only be found at the core of me.

I follow along the flower bed. We do this to every single flower out there. Now I love that i've instilled this in him but i was hungry because i don't have anyone to make me breakfast every morning. And i wanted to get home. "No mommy! Smell da flowers! (crying now as i try to pull him away) Smell the fooooowers mommy!" Grrrr. This is when we fight. When he's doing something i've taught him to do and i don't want to. But the kid never wants to leave. He could stay there all day and never be ready to go. We go to a park and he always leaves in tears because he never wants to leave. Ever. I have a kid who never leaves a store crying and he never cries for us to buy him anything. But you take the kid outside and you are going to have a battle. It's a given. Even if it's just walking to the car. That walk can take an hour. And you can be guaranteed that when you do the mountain that's called laundry each week, there will be pocket after pocket of acorns and rocks.