My Little Tree Hugger (literally)

The other day when I picked up the kids from school I noticed that Ajay was holding a sad little branch in a bag. I soon discovered that he was given a tree from big, bad Wal-Mart in celebration of earth day, to take home and plant. OK, I guess I can cut them a little slack for one day, because I did find it to be a nice gesture to give all of the kindergarten and first grade students at our school a tree to plant.

He was so excited to plant it as soon as we got home. Well, those plans were put on hold since we are renting and I told him to go next door and ask the landlords if and where we could plant his new tree (yes, that is the landlords dog in the background).

It was fun how this little tree quickly became a bit of a community event. Our entire family came out to watch Ajay plant his tree as did our neighbors and their two dogs. Ajay was beaming from ear to ear as he placed it in the ground and Perry covered it with dirt.

One of the things that I really admire about my son is how in touch with nature he is. He loves to rescue the toads that get stuck in our window wells, put the worms on our driveway after a rain back in the dirt and will talk about how sad it is that a plant dies once it has been picked. Last summer was the first time that we had the space to have a vegetable garden and Ajay couldn't get enough of it. He was right there with me all summer pulling weeds, watering and harvesting the fruits (or veggies) of our labor.

He has been so connected to this little tree, watering and talking to it each day. He even started a tree journal where he writes about any changes in the tree and has taped photos of the tree in it. He told me the other day that we are going to take a picture of him and the tree every year on his birthday so that we can watch Ajay and the tree grow. I just hope that for his sake this poor little tree does take root and grows to be a big strong tree. My little boy will be devastated if something were to happen to it.

Of all of my passions that I had hoped to share with my children, one of the things I am the most proud of is that they get how important nature is to our well being. My kids amaze me every day!