Savagemama

The Baby Is Eating Dirt, It’s a Lovely Thing

By Jennifer Savage, 5-13-07

A few weeks ago it occurred to me that it was that time of year again, time to turn the garden, time to plant seeds and watch them grow. And this year I have company.

I’ve dreamed of this when I dared to, the day that I could consult with my daughter about where to plant the carrots. This year, I pointed to the bed I thought would be perfect.

“How about here?” I said.

From her perch on my hip Eliza said, “da.”

I said, “yes, da. Da?”

“Da,” she said.

This isn’t exactly the conversation I’ve imagined in my head all these years but it is sweet on my tongue nonetheless.

Last week we planted carrots and greens. I sat Eliza in the dirt and moved quickly making rows in the soil I’d turned the week before. As I sprinkled seeds, Eliza grunted to be picked up.

“Just one more row,” I told her over my shoulder.

Her grunts turned to whines then to cries. It took us all day to plant one bed. Saturday we planted potatoes and onions. In the middle of planning the potato patch I turned to look and Eliza had a handful of dirt in her mouth. As I moved to get it out of her hand, she smiled and a small river of drool and mud slid down her chin.  She put another handful to her mouth at about the same time Seth walked into the garden.

“What’s she doing?” he said. “You would kill me if she’d done that while I was watching her.” He’s right I would have but she was just so curious I couldn’t bring myself to stop her.

Of all the things I want to teach my little girl, this is one of the most important. I want her to get dirty. I want her to dig. Somewhere deep inside I want her to eat dirt.

Jennifer Savage writes about being a new mom on her own blog here on NewWest.Net. Read more from “Savagemama” at www.newwest.net/savagemama.

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