"Mommy, You Died It"

I don't have a green thumb. I know that. But when the kids were so sick and I was looking for educational stuff to do at home, I thought this Rootview mini farm would be a good activity. You plant the seeds (advertised as hearty and fast-growing), and watch them sprout and grow into radishes, carrots, and onions.

The kids were all excited when we first put it together. Multiple times a day Lily would ask to check to see how our seeds were growing. They sprouted and we could see the roots as advertised. William loved to count them.

But now, instead of watching the vegetables form, we are watching the plants die off one by one. I'm not sure what's going wrong. We put them in the basement to keep them off limits and because that's the warmest place in the house, but maybe the heat changes from the dryer are hard on them. Maybe my fear of more dying has led me to over water them.

At any rate, we're not checking on them quite as regularly. And the main lesson we're learning is that the grass withers and the flower fades. I guess in some ways that's a good thing; we're less traumatized now than we were with the first few. And the kids weren't going to eat the vegetables anyway. I'm just glad I chose the plants instead of a ladybug or butterfly habitat.