Rooster's Mother

As my darling Rooster is set to turn 5 tomorrow, I thought it appropriate to share the following tale.

I love this boy.

I get frustrated when he throws everything up in the air to land on the fan, the roof, or the neighbor's roof; but I love his exuberance.

I get seriously annoyed when he has a meltdown about every.little.thing; but I cherish his tender heart.

I have serious problems with his volume control (or lack thereof); but I absolutely adore the gusto with which he lives his life.

I know I will love Rooster the 5 year old, but I have so enjoyed our year of Rooster, age 4.

Just last week, for Mother's Day, he saw his daddy give me a live tree, and saw what a fuss I made over it. So he got busy, and soon presented me with the best gift he could come up with all on his own: a couple of seeds and a handful of mulch, carefully placed in one of my tupperware containers.

Now these were not just some generic seeds he found in a field. They had traveled quite a journey to fall into his hands. First we selected a fresh pumpkin at the patch last October; then we painted it and waited for Halloween to come and go. After awhile the pumpkin decayed, and we moved it out to the garden at Grammy's house, and forgot about it.

A couple months ago, Boo and I came across the old pumpkin when we were helping Grammy clear her patch of land for spring planting. Boo grabbed a few seeds and brought them home. They were left on the front porch to roast in the early summer heat.

And on Sunday, Rooster knew just where to find some special seeds he could plant for his mommy. And mommy appreciated his desire to give her a plant, although she had a pretty good idea that those seeds had been fairly well abused.

What mommy did not know or appreciate, was exactly how ready those seeds were to sprout! Within 48 hours they had begun to grow. And within a week they were six inches tall. What in the world!

After 8 days

So we will be having pumpkins this fall, thanks to the heart of a sweet boy who didn't know what he could or could not do. It's the best gift he could have given me, because now I get to savor one of his final four-year-old acts for another four months.

Once upon a time I was hoping this child would be a girl. I am so glad I didn't get to make that decision, because one of the great pleasures of my life is that I get to be Rooster's mother.