Promise

Today the lilacs opened;
and I almost missed it.

My spring tradition since childhood:
reaching up on my tippy toes,
plucking down a fresh bloom;
closing my eyes, memorizing that scent,
taking out the inner core, sucking
on the sweet nectar.

And I almost missed it.
I was distracted; glued to my computer screen,
stuck on my cell phone, head in the dirty laundry;
Caught up in things that just won’t matter
100 years from now.

Then you came home,
scooped up our busy
one-year-old, took us to a little lilac tree
you’d planted in our barren backyard.

The scent was so familiar, a reminder
strong and insistent like your
stubborn side,
damp petals poignant
grazing against my face.

So for a moment it was just the three of us,
carefree and content;
Surrounded by that powerful scent
and the promise of renewal:
The promise of purple.

'Promise' by Heather Grace Stewart

A Child’s View of Summer

(To our three-year old): What do you want to do this summer, sweetie?

Fly a kite!

Bounce at the beach! Jump in the sand!

Row a boat with Daddy. Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream!

Try to catch fireflies at night. They will come to my back yard and I will catch one.

But, it’s firey, so maybe I couldn’t catch it.

Pick strawberries, in Daddy’s garden, there! I’d like to pick strawberries with you.

Hmmm….Who said kids need expensive vacations?

Ten Simple Cures for the Summertime Blues

Looking for fun yet simple things to do with young children this summer that won’t break the bank? Move over, Martha Stewart…Heather Grace Stewart thinks simple and shoestring-budget can go together!

Whether you live in the heart of the city, a small rural town, or true cow-patty country, a lot of summer fun can be had for next to nothing and in your own back yard. Here are a few creative ideas to get you started:

1- Make a list like this with your children. I compiled this one with the help of our three year old, and it ended up being a fun hour-long activity for us. You can simply ask them “What do you love the most about summer/ want to do this summer? The list might end up becoming a memento for the family scrapbook, as mine did. Just be sure to follow through on any reasonable ideas they come up with.
2- Fly a kite on a blue-sky day beside a local lake, or if you’re lucky enough to live near one, the ocean.
3- Buy Dollar Store wind chimes, patio lanterns and decorative creatures – we love fabric butterflies and butterfly decals – and hang them on your deck, patio torches, and windows together. You can control the tackiness quotient by how much you buy and where you hang items.
4-Make a pitcher of iced tea or fresh lemonade together every few days, so there will always be plenty chilling in the fridge whenever friends drop by.
5- Collect shells and sand dollars at the beach; use unique ones to make necklaces. No cool shells in your area? Even small snails, pine cones, and small craft/ dollar store pom-pom’s can be glued together to create silly sea creatures.
6-Find a sprinkler/ splash park you’ve never been to before and go splash around with your inner child. Many in city parks and completely free, and for those in the country, there’s always that not-so-secret swimming hole every kid knows about.
7- Plant lettuce and strawberry plants in May before the frost, then pick the lettuce and berries together and make strawberry salads for your evening meals. Give young ones a salad spinner to wash the lettuce —that will occupy the under-four crowd for a while, and help you out at the same time.
8-Find a lush patch of green grass and lie in it together. Ask your children to find cloud pictures and tell you about them.
9-Go for a long walk to pick wildflowers and arrange them together in an old glass milk bottle or wine carafe. Tall glass jars like these make perfect vases and are easy to find at your local flea market.
10-Pick garden flowers – we liked yellow pansies and pink roses for the colour combination and because they float well– and place them in a square or rectangular glass vase (Superstore type grocery stores carry them for under $10) To make your arrangement a beautiful patio lantern for summer evenings, try adding floating candles to the water (a bag of 25 is usually no more than $5).

Article and photos copyright 2008, Heather Grace Stewart, hgrace.com