I’ve found that when if comes to having successful playtime with the boys (and the Man), it is important not to set them up for failure. In the realm of gardening, this means supplying them with the proper tools and gear. For instance, the picture on the left shows the Man-child with the Man’s shovel. It is clearly too heavy, and he was whining. The picture on the right shows him with a more size-appropriate tool. Purchasing kids’ tools isn’t necessary. Inevitably, whatever tool you are using is eventually going to be the one they demand. However, garden centers do make great plastic hand tools that are less likely to…

Well, here it is, and here they are. This is the spot of my future garden and these are my three boys, my loves. There is the Man, the Man-child, and the Baby. Gardening is something we do as a family. It preoccupies our weekends and ravages our dining room during the winter and early spring. We all get dirty. The Man does the heavy lifting, I do the planting weeding, the Man-child runs around runs around making sure everything is in order, and the Baby peeks out over the pack-N-play wishing he could walk already. I’ve long dreamed of simple country living, but we live in a suburban-like neighborhood…