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Growing up I have some very fond memories of hitting the local farm and picking apples in the fall and strawberries in the summer. I remember the brown paper bags that we filled with apples until they were almost too heavy to lift. I remember the cardboard baskets with the red stains coating the inside as we filled it with bright red strawberries. Spending that time with my family, being out in nature, picking our own delicious ripe fruit, stealing little bites of the fruit as we went along, are all fond memories that warm my heart.
As Maya gets older we are making more and more memories with her. Starting traditions that she will hopefully hold close to her heart as she grows up. Since I have such fond memories of apple picking and strawberry picking with my family we decided to start those same traditions with Maya. Last fall we picked apples and though she wasn’t even two yet she remembers it and still talks about it. So, this past weekend we decided to try our hand at strawberry picking.
I knew Maya would love it because strawberries are her favorite food. She easily goes through a pound or two a week. Not to mention that we knew she’d love the tractor ride out to the strawberry fields.
We set out early in the morning since the temperature was supposed to be pretty hot that day. We coated ourselves in sunscreen and hitched a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor out to the fields of bright red fresh strawberries. It was a blast. Maya ate more strawberries than she put in the box 
We’ve been enjoying some very delicious strawberries all week! We’ll be heading out to pick blackberries and peaches later in the summer.
I love making special family memories with Maya. It’ll be interesting to see what she remembers fondly from her childhood when she grows up.
It is very HOT here right now. We are currently having August in May.
Living in St. Louis for the last ten years we’ve learned to live with, and even love the heat. We expect to see the themometer surpass the 90 degree mark before lunch time in the height of summer. We know that it will be so humid outside that just walking to your car will make you drip with sweat. However, those first few weeks of hot weather are always tough. It takes my body a little bit to adjust to temperatures in the 90s with some crazy humidity thrown in to make it feel that much hotter.
This past week has tough. I’m definitely not used to these temperatures yet. We are all trying to get our bodies adjusted to the heat and ready for another hot St. Louis summer. I think Maya may have figured out the perfect solution!!
What a perfect way to beat the heat!! I see a lot of hose playing fun in our future
Children learn about money, especially young children, by observing what their parents and other respected adults in their lives do. The information the soak up in watching us with our money will greatly impact their own opinions of money down the road. Whether they are spenders or savers, logical with money or irrational with it will depend in large part on what they learn about money growing up. Even if you don’t actually talk to your children about you will still be teaching them something about it.
Sadly, there isn’t much teaching going on when it comes to money, especially in school. Unless parents sit down and talk to their children about money, make it a point to share what they know, what they’ve learn, children will likely only have those observances from their childhood to fall back on. Most schools do not specifically teach children about money, about the value of money, about what spending versus saving means. Although this is valuable and necessary life information it often gets over looked.
There are many things you can do as a parent to help teach your children about money. Things like:
- Taking them to the bank or ATM with you so they can witness and learn about some of the different transactions that take place involving money.
- Taking them shopping with you and teach them about spending wisely.
- Giving your child a little bit of money and teaching them about saving versus spending.
- Giving your child a means to save money, like a bank account of their own, and teaching them about the importance of saving up for big purchases.
- Letting your child watch you pay bills and talking with them about using the money in our accounts to pay for our expenses.
- Teaching your child about spending wisely by clipping coupons, looking for sale items, etc.
- Talking candidly with your child about money and not making it a hidden, secret topic.
There are some great online resources that include activities you can do with your child to help teach them about money. Here are a few:
By teaching your children about money, sharing your financial experiences with them, you are giving them some of the tools they will need to be successful in their own life.
At any given time, on any given day, if you were to stop by my house you would find Maya either singing, dancing, or both. She loves music. She knows the words to 4 or 5 nursery rhyme songs and sings them constantly. She loves singing along to some of her favorite “grown up” songs when they come on the radio in the car. There is nothing quite like seeing your child dancing and singing and getting such joy out of it. I love that she loves music. I love that she is starting to learn the words to her favorite songs. I love that I get to watch her do it every day.
Music is very important to Maya and to see her dancing around the house even if there is no music playing it is clear that there is always a song playing in her head.
Without further ado, I present Maya and her St. Louis Zoo Monkey doing Ring Around the Rosy
Admittedly, I do not have a green thumb. If you asked the plants I’ve inadvertently killed over the years they’d probably tell you my thumb is in fact black. But, I love plants and flowers and gardens. I love checking out all the different types of plants and flowers in the gardens of my neighbors when I am out walking around my neighborhood. I love filling my home with fresh cut flowers. I have grand dreams of the beautiful gardens of my own that I will create (with the help of some friends with much greener thumbs than I) when we finally get into a new house.
I have passed on this love for the beauty of plants and flowers to my daughter. She will stop and smell every flower if given the chance. She will spend hours out in the garden of our condominium just digging and watering and pulling weeds. If you ask her what she is doing while she plays away in the garden she will tell you that she is “making a garden”
Yesterday, we spent the morning outside enjoying the sunshine and warm air that has been lacking around these parts lately. Maya worked away at “making a garden” while I watched and admired the blooming and blossoming going on in our yard.
Together, Maya and I, will make beautiful gardens when we move into our new house and we will be so proud of the blooming and blossoming that takes place. We are both very excited. When I mention moving to Maya she always says “Oh, make a garden, it be fun to make a garden!!!” and her face lights up