Happy Pretty Dandelions

It's that time of year. The days are getting longer and warmer, the birds are back, everything turned vibrant green almost overnight- spring has sprung. Along with the vibrant green grass comes that inevitable pest- the dandelion. They pop up, seemingly multiplying by the dozens in seconds. My 4 year old daughter has been delightedly bringing me dandelions by the cute little fistful each and every morning lately, and sometimes in the afternoon. She calls them "sunflowers." I give her a hug and a kiss and a big thank you and promptly put them in water and place them on the kitchen window sill where I know she will be checking for them, to make sure they are on prominent display. One day recently my son was home when Lauren excitedly made her presentation of dandelions. He opened his mouth and I knew he was going to tell her that they are just weeds and that she shouldn't bother to bring them to me. I quickly, before he could get all the words out, shushed him, gave Lauren a big thank you and sent her on her merry way. Jackson asked me why on earth I was acting so excited about some weeds, and why was I putting them on display for heaven's sake? I looked him in the eye and explained that I did the same thing for him when he was her age. You see, a child's innocence is lost all to quickly, and I prefer to hold onto it for as long as possible. Lauren sees pretty little brightly colored yellow "sunflowers" where we grown ups see annoying weeds. I am so happy that in her innocent, as yet unspoiled vision she has a beautiful bouquet, as fine as any roses you could pick. As adults maybe we should be more aware of "setting our kids straight" and less ready to point out all the "weeds" in life. Like the dandelions, they'll inevitably pop up, and sometimes multiply seemingly overnight. Let them see the "sunflowers" for as long as they can! They'll find out about the weeds soon enough. Instead, let's teach them how to stop and smell the dandelions!