SOLSC 2022 #23 Flowering fun

 

It is March 2022 and time for the

 15th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge  

Every single day, for all thirty-one days of March,

writers will share stories.

Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for creating this supportive community 

of teacher-writers!

Ten days later, the gorgeous anniversary flowers were no longer so; in fact, they were sad, droopy, and discarding petal after petal onto the table. They had lasted a good length of time; I decided to get them out to the compost. I laid down newspaper to examine and collect them one by one, thinking - maybe, just maybe, some of them were not wilting? Ah, that was not to be. 

Three year old Frog pulled up a chair to where I was working. 

"Nana, shouldn't we do a flower experiment?"

I looked at her, incredulously, and then remembered seeing a photo of her with her other grandmother, breaking apart remnants of another vase of flowers and exploring. My goodness, of course, we SHOULD do this, shouldn't we? 

One couple's trash is a child's treasure! These tasks are great learning fun.

I found some containers and we began pulling off blossoms, taking care - for a short while, anyway - to have each type of flower in a different container. We were fascinated by the different shapes and sizes of the blossoms. Frog bombarded me with questions - 

What is this part called?

Why are some flowers bigger?

What is this flower?

What is this part that is making a powder mess?

Other than petals, leaves, and stems, the discussion was pretty quickly over my head, so I suggested we research this on the computer. We don't have to be the experts, right? Welcome the questions and figure it out together. I looked up "parts of plant," and we studied the diagrams together; soon Frog was tossing around the words "stamen" and "pistil" with confidence, which had me chuckling. Then she had the idea to mix all the petals into one bowl, making a bed for Thumbelina (we had just read this fairy tale together earlier). That cozy bed led to an art project - I found a piece of card stock and got out the glue; Frog made a floral collage. 

This art still drying at day's end; I'll get it out again next week with her, and see if she wants to add some marker or paint...or glue more flowers...

With grandchildren, chores turn into the most pleasant opportunities!

 

SOL20 Slice #12: Happy Anniversary!

I am participating in the
 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOL20).  
All participants are sharing stories about moments in their lives, writing 
 every day for the month of March 2020.
Thank you, Two Writing Teachers!

This slice is a short one. You see, today's our wedding anniversary. 32 precious years. I want to spend a quiet evening with my honey.

I stepped in from the playground this morning, guiding my preschoolers back into the classroom, when I saw the gorgeous flowers, the Happy Anniversary balloons, and the delicious chocolates, sitting right there at the main desk. The school secretary was smiling broadly. What a bounteous gift! What joy!

Oh, and there's the PE coach. He slips up to the desk, saying enthusiastically,
"Oh my, my wife really surprised me today! I sure didn't expect this!"

and he grabs all those anniversary goodies into his arms.

Ha!

I call to him - "Wait! Mr. A, is today YOUR wedding anniversary?"

He responds, "Yes! It sure is!"

I continue, "It's mine, too! What a coincidence! Today we celebrate 32 years. How about you?"

Mr. A - "We're celebrating 15...I plan to catch up to you, one day!"

I joke, "You should double-check the name on all that loot...are you sure it's not mine? Happy, happy anniversary to you! We are special!! We're connected."

I stopped at the florist on the way home, and bought my sweet hubby flowers and chocolates! I wanted to see him beam, too.

Happy day.

We both bought flowers!