After supper tonight the weather was still somewhat nice outside, so we decided to go for a walk.
A walk is a very complicated thing with two toddlers. Someone gave us a bus toy. The kids fought over it whenever we’d go outside. Nothing else compared. It had all kinds of buttons you could push and it would make noises. You can ride on it or hold onto the handle in the back and push it. Their legs aren’t very long and riding it is difficult, so the girls mostly love to just run down the sidewalk pushing it. We finally had to get a second one to stop the fighting.
So, we set out with two adults, two toddlers, and two push toys. It was a lovely walk – just warm enough, not too hot. The yards were full of flowers. We live in a great neighborhood where a number of homeowners have turned their entire yards into large gardens. The kids get a kick out of pointing things out to us…seed pods, cats, pine cones, doggies, flowers, gazing balls.
We were fairly deep into the walk when Sam spied some really cool flowers growing in a neighbor’s yard. They were a very attractive yellow. She was taken with them. I didn’t think the neighbor would miss one of their dandelions precious flowers, so I picked one and gave it to Sam. She was thrilled. She pointed at another one and started to hoot, obviously meaning she wanted that flower, too. I didn’t think it would hurt – they weren’t in any danger of running out of pretty yellow flowers at that house. Picked the second one and gave it to Sam. She turned around, walked over to Jessie, and handed her a flower.
Awwwwwwwww. It was so darned cute. Very moving. How sweet is that, thinking of your sister at that age?
So, we returned to our walk. It was a little more difficult to push the toy while holding a flower. Jessie gave up and Matt had to carry her toy. Sam decided she wanted to put her flower in her coat pocket. Who am I to argue with such practicality? Actually, it turns out to be harder than you might think to keep a dandelion in a tiny toddler hoodie pocket. If the flower was sticking out at all, it would fall out to the sidewalk. Eventually we ended up just cramming the thing as deep into her pocket as possible.
Sam being obsessive Sam, she had to stop every couple of feet and reach into her pocket to make sure her flower was still there. When she’d pull her hand out of her pocket the flower would fall out and I’d have to shove it back in there again. Eventually Jessie and Matt got far enough ahead of us that they turned a corner and we missed which direction they’d gone. Nevertheless, we carried on with our little walk, pausing every five feet or so to re-pocket the posie.
Eventually little Sam decided she’d walked far enough, stopped in front of me, reached her hands skyward, and said, “Op!” I started carrying her and the bus back home. As we turned the corner onto our street, she saw Jessie and Matt on the next block.
Jessie saw us and came running, all excited.
It seems that after they ditched us got way far ahead of Sam and me they ran into Bob the Neighbor. Bob’s a great guy. He lets his dogs out to play with the kids sometimes when we’re out for walks because the kids just love doggies. Bob has a beautiful yard with lots of spring flowers. He asked Jessie what kind of a flower her mommy might like. Jessie just looked at him, so Matt suggested a red one. Bob cut Jessie a red tulip. She traded up and gave her dandelion to Matt.
By the time Matt & Jess reached Sam and me, Jessie decided that she might need to keep the tulip. Sam noticed the big, beautiful red flower and reached out for it. Jessie pulled it back and made it clear that it was her flower. Sam was heartbroken. She had pulled her sad, bruised, wilted dandelion out of her pocket and it clearly didn’t measure up. Not only did she not have a pretty red flower, but her little treasure was no longer a treasure. She sat down right on the sidewalk and started to cry. The crying devolved into a small fit thrown right there in the handicap curb cut at one of the busier intersections in the neighborhood. I saw at least one passenger turn around for a good look and a laugh – she had a been there, done that, glad-it’s-you-not-me look on her face.
Poor Sam. We headed home. Coming up the driveway I spotted a weed that I’d intended to let grow because it had such a nice flower. I would have cut Sam one of our tulips, but some dumbass I planted them in the shade and they bloom several weeks after everyone else’s. So Matt picked the weed and gave her that pretty flower. It wasn’t as good as the tulip, though. When we got in the house she tried to trade with Jessie. Jessie’s no idiot. She wanted to keep her pretty red tulip (which by this time had a significantly shorter stem and a broken petal). Sam was pretty sad about that.
I peeked out into the backyard, grabbed Sam and a scissors, and the two of us went out without our coats on. We had a couple of daffodils that had just flowered (again, some doofus planted them in the shade) so I cut the prettiest bunch with the longest stem. Sam was thrilled. She hung onto her flowers even after she was in her jammies. Trying to get to sleep, she curled up on my chest with her butt up in the air and her hands tucked under her, still clutching the flower. Shortly before she conked out she handed me the flower and nodded off.
