I am a mum of 3 kids. Yes I am the Mother who is teetering on the edge of insanity. I’m about half a glass of wine away from it though. I’m hanging on.
I have a 10 year old, and 11 year old and now a 16 year old. Riley turned 16 on Sunday. And like all Birthdays I always make birthday cake for the Kids. I could totally go on that Nailed It show. I have great visions of cakes, but they do not always work out. Riley and I sat down on Friday night to discuss which cake he would like for a 16th. I though, you know, something mature, grown up, EASY. But no, he wanted a Luigi cake from Super Mario Brothers. (I did go for the easy style though. Decorated with M&Ms) And as you do sometimes when you look at the future, you think back on the past. We started to look at all the other 15 cakes we had done over the years, the parties we have had, and the people who have joined us.
And being Turf farmers all his life, a lot of Riley’s birthday parties have been on our lawn. And it made me realise how we use our lawn so differently over the years.
When the kids where babies, and I couldn’t stand the sound of crying babies inside anymore, I would put them on the pram and push the pram backwards and forwards across a stick on the lawn. They loved the bumping (in helped with wind pain) and I was outside in the air. Which seems so much more cope-able than inside four walls.
When the kids were toddlers, the lawn was a sanctuary for us all. After hours of picking up toys and cleaning and then re-picking up toys and re-cleaning, there was no better place to go with them than outside on the grass. In summer I gave them a tiny water pistol and they squirted each other, and watered the lawn. In winter they could still go out with bare feet and run around with a ball or a tube of cardboard (this could easily a a sword or an instrument. Depending upon their mood). Our lawn was also very very valuable when the kids were toilet training. It seems that doing a wee on the grass is so much more entertaining and worthwhile for boys than in a toilet.
When they started school and where finally old enough to get the big kid swing set with the slide, our lawn and backyard became a place of squealing fun and excitement. When they were old enough for a trampoline, the lawn being thick and fluffy enough for bare feet to run across, meant that no shoes were abandoned outside.
Then as my kids got older and so did the neighbours kids, our lawn become an area of parties for everyone. Family and friends would come and we would sit, eat, drink and talk for hours while our kids played on the lawn. There is no better mother stress relief than talking with friends, knowing that your kids are happy and safe. Of of course wine and cheese.
As my three kids grew and left me to go to school, they started to play school sports and then Saturday sports, so our lawn become a training paddock. The lawn was soft and comforting enough for football tackles that caused them to crash to the ground. But tough enough to take the beating of little feet, balls and sticks. Our grassed yard was great for the kids to learn how to pass a hockey ball, throw a football, and more importantly catch a ball. But the best part of having three kids on a lawn altogether, is that it teaches them to be good winners, and better losers. Our lawn was a great place for our family.
And now that I have a “mature” 16 year old, and two kids who think they are teenagers, our lawn is still home to running races, hand stands, football tackles, and it on occasion, becomes a camping ground for sleepovers. Lucky it is still thick soft and beautifully green.
There are so many memories that we have formed with our lawn. So many smiles, laughs, tears and joy have been on our patch of green. And I know that none of these memories could have been formed anywhere else. Our lawn is an intricate part of our family. Our family needs our lawn.
Let our family come and create a place of Joy and Green for your family. A place where memories can be made, and happiness shared.
(Sorry Riley would NOT let me put pictures of him on here. But I snuck in little kid ones because I kinda miss those days. Chat soon!)