It's hard to say who enjoyed Margaret and Ruth's visit more-- me, or Audrey. Audrey was over the moon about getting to plant her own garden in pots on the back porch with Margaret's help, and is delighting in checking on her seeds each day; the beans are gaining about an inch in height a day, the strawberry plants are enthusiastically sending runners in every direction and the marigolds are cheer itself. And muffin-making was just as great-- helping to break the eggs, getting to stir, and nary a scolding about making a mess! She also watched her cousin Ruth in respectful awe as Ruth carried her cello case-- magical!-- through the house.
Did I enjoy the gardening and baking projects because someone else did all the work, from set-up to supervising and even clean-up? Yes. But there was another element here that surprised me and made me think, and that was seeing Audrey begin a relationship of her own with Margaret, someone who has always been very dear to me and who will now have an important spot in Audrey's life, too. It was a reminder that Audrey is not a doll that I invented, and for whom I will manufacture relationships. She has her own aunts and cousins and friends. This was made powerfully clear when I stepped onto the back porch to take photos of the seed planting and Audrey gave me a two-hands traffic cop stop and said, "No, Mom! Don't come into our garden!"
She didn't need me right then. She was happily enjoying her time with someone else, and all I needed to do was take a step back and give her, as I am always exhorting her to do for Calvin, "some space."
1 comment:
Gardening and baking are two of my favorite activities, and I have fond memories of little girls in little aprons in the kitchen or picking sugar peas and bush beans in the garden. Kristen used to say "I'm hepping you Mommy, amn't I??!!"
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