Flower Child

Evan LOVES flowers. Sometimes, between conquering water fountains and hoses, dirt and mud, playsets and Nathan, he finds his way to some flower and sniffs deeply. Then, he'll smile and say, "MMMmmmmm!" Before I killed off the patches of clover in the back yard, he would sit in the middle of it and smell the blossoms, as bees buzzed all around him. Laura said he reminded her of Ferdinand the Bull (click for info). Recently, as I was watering some plants in the front yard, Evan was doing something else he loves to do with flowers - pick them! The poor marigolds have been abused by "Ferdinand", so I instructed firmly, "NO-NO, Evan! We're not picking the flowers - we're just watering them! He stood up from his stooping, processed what I had said, then quickly (with his kung-fu action) snapped off a flower. I sighed heavily, and asked, "SON! Did you understand what I said?" As I was speaking, he was headed my way. As he got near to where I was watering a different plant, he stuck his flower under the shower of water and looked up at me with a big smile. Next time, I'll be specific about watering the flowers where they are growing!