It seems like I’ve been gardening all my life. And teaching children the skills and love for gardening are what brings me joy in the gardening world. If you can see their huge smiles and excitement as they watch their plants grow, then you know you have instilled a love for nature. I still remember as a young child, my parents would bring me out to their backyard to help plant pumpkin seeds. I then graduated to planting tree saplings to learning how to transplant, divide plants, and propagate.

While not every child desires to learn about plants, most of them do however enjoy being outdoors and digging their fingers in the soil. There are health benefits to growing your own garden or planting your own food. You get to be outside in fresh air, you decide on what you want to grow, you can see pollinators visit your garden, and you can enjoy the bounty of your fresh fruits and vegetables! And there are many easy-to-grow plants for children no matter their skill level. And with spring just around the corner, now is the best time to prepare for your spring planting. If you like to start with seeds, get them ready as most seeds take about 7-10 days to sprout and then 2-3 months for the plants to be fully grown. If you can’t wait for the seeds to sprout and transplant, then seedlings or small established plants might be a better choice.

Below are 10 ways of getting your child interested in growing their own garden. These are fairly easy steps and you can start small with just a few plants.

1. Start off with easy to grow plants. Beans, beets, carrots, peas, radishes, and tomatoes are all easy beginner plants. Buy organic seeds or seedlings whenever possible as these are edible plants. Peas, tomatoes, and carrots can be easily grown in planters too.

2.  Enlist them in the garden design. Decide on whether you want to grow in a planter or directly in the ground. Planters are great for beginners or if you have a small space. Pick planters that have good drainage holes.

3. Make it personal by planting a favorite flower. Check out planting seasons and plant their favorite flower or birth flower.

4. Study the full life cycle of a seed. Most seeds take about 7-10 days to sprout. Seedlings are usually about 2-3 inches tall and can be planted directly into the ground or in a planter that can accommodate the size of a fully grown plant. Growing from seeds is particularly fun because your child can track the growth of the seed as it germinates into a seedling!

5. Take your child to a garden center. Walk around the garden center to see what’s in season and get inspiration. Talk to a horticulturist while there to get some insider tips on growing a bountiful garden! And while you’re there, pick up some plants to take home.

6. Purchase basic garden tools. Buy thick gloves, garden spade, garden hand trowel, a small rake, garden shears, and a watering can. Get either child-size tools or smaller adult sizes so they’ll grow with your child.

7. Go on a nature walk at a local park or arboretum. This will inspire both you and your child to appreciate and discover various plants. Oftentimes arboretums will sell native plants so they’re great for your little ones to choose for themselves.

8. Create a plant journal. Depending on the age of your child, you can have them start a plant journal where they can draw or cut out pictures of what they’re planting. Then record the start date of planting and the growth period. This also helps develop good recording skills for future planting and gardening techniques.

9. Grow specific plants for pollinators. Great plants to grow for butterflies and bees are native flowers or all-inclusive plants such as herbs, sunflowers, and daisies. Pollinators help increase the growth of your own plants as well as help them pollinate other plants. I love growing Milkweed for our Monarch butterflies during springtime. These unique and beautiful pollinators are instantly attracted to this specific plant and you’ll get to watch the cute little caterpillars too!

10. Plant a hummingbird habitat garden. Once in a while, I will grow plants that hummingbirds love right in front of my front door. It’s so delightful to hear their little wings flap as they drink the nectar from my plants. Hummingbird plants include Butterfly Bush, Trumpet Vine, and Honeysuckles. Just think of anything in a tubular flower shape where their long beaks can fit into the flowers. Instill the love of gardening and being in nature when your child is young. Teach them basic gardening skills and they’ll soon want to grow a garden for you! Happy gardening!

I am a mom first and foremost. I might not be a supermom, but I am constantly learning and growing.Topics I stand with are parenting, the environment, and living a healthy and happy lifest‌yle. I work at an elementary school and I have 30 years experience in the health industry.

Michelle Major

photo via Michelle Major

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamed of living near the mountains. Spoiler alert: That girl was me, and although I spent the first twenty-one years of my life in Ohio, mountains always called to me. After graduating college, I pointed my car west, found a job on a dude ranch in southern Colorado and set about making my dreams come true.

I didn’t expect those dreams to include becoming a romance author—at that point in my life I couldn’t even see far enough ahead in my future to believe I might be lucky enough to have kids and a family of my own. Then I met my future husband on a blind date, another Ohio transplant. I wasn’t exactly a spring chicken (at least that’s what my mother-in-law told me) so shortly after the wedding, I got pregnant. At the same time I discovered the romance genre and was immediately hooked on the stories of hope and heart (along with all those hot heroes). I figured that becoming an author would be the perfect career for a mom. My sweet babies would sleep through the night and nap on a schedule and give me plenty of time to perfect my craft.

For several years, I was lucky to have time to brush my teeth. Writing was done in fits and spurts during early morning sessions before the kids woke up. This doesn’t include the summer my son woke every day before five a.m. and we resorted to nailing black garbage bags to the outside of his windows every night just to grab an extra few morning minutes.

But here’s the thing—the more I struggled with rejections from editors and agents plus skin-shredding critiques from a pile of contest entries—the more committed I became to making my dream of being a published author a reality. Finally, when my younger daughter started kindergarten, I gave myself an ultimatum: get a book contract or go out and find another job. I’ve always worked. I like working. Being a mom was the hardest job I’ve ever had, but I wanted something for myself. Writing is it for me. And during winter break her kindergarten year, I received the amazing call from an agent who wanted to represent me. Shortly after, she sold my first book to Harlequin.

From there, life became a balancing act. The great thing about being an author is the flexibility to work when you want and where you want. The other thing about being an author is that it’s often a more than full time job. Books to write, to edit, social media, promotions, research, reader events—all the things. All the things I love but what I love even more is being available when my kids need me. That has been the great gift of writing and the reason I’m so committed to getting up at five every morning and carrying my laptop with me everywhere I go. I can’t count the number of words I’ve written at swim meets, in carpool lines, lacrosse games, volleyball tournaments (I’m currently sitting in the high school parking lot waiting for practice to end). I make it work, but there have been sacrifices. Hello, cute wardrobe for the social life I used to have, I’m looking at you.

My son leaves for college this fall, and one of the gifts of this wild year has been being home with him. Yes, I’m home tapping furiously while he and my daughter are in class. And sometimes it’s not easy to write a hot love session when the sounds of a group of kids wreaking havoc in the kitchen is my background music, but writing has given me the best of both worlds. Plus my kids have seen me do something for myself—they’ve watched the high points and the low points but they know their mom works hard for happiness. So to any other moms or dads out there who have a dream but worry about how it will affect your kids, I’m here to tell you that you can make it work. You can have your dream and you can be a parent and both you and your kids will be better for it. Even if it takes years to get there. And if you need someone to believe in you, I’m that person. Just know that I’m here to believe in you until you can believe in yourself.

Michelle Major is the USA Today bestselling author of over forty sexy and sweet contemporary romances. She loves second-chances love stories, smart heroines and strong heroes. A Midwesterner at heart, she’s made the Rocky Mountains her home for nearly half her life and is thrilled to share her books with readers.

My husband and I were married on July 2, 2011 in Red Bank, New Jersey. A few months after being married, I found out that I would need a kidney transplant. While this was somewhat of a surprise, it wasn’t something that hadn’t crossed my mind. My Mom was diagnosed with Medullary Cystic Kidney Disease when I was in middle school. She eventually went on to need a kidney transplant. At the time, my Dad was not a match to donate to my Mom, so she went on the UNOS waiting list. Several months of dialysis, she then received a call that there was a kidney for her. My Mom is by far the strongest woman I know. Seeing her strength is what helped me to get through my own transplant.

My symptoms of high blood pressure and rapid elevated kidney function were not the same as my mom’s kidney disease, I had, what our nephrologist  called, “Chronic kidney disease.” We then began our trek in January 2012 to getting listed on the UNOS lists at one hospital per state. My Mom, my Dad, my husband and I would make the drive together where they tried to make me laugh and make light of the long car rides. It was at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where I was getting over 30 vials of blood drawn to prepare for what was ahead when my husband said he wanted to be my donor. We had never even talked about him being a donor. I was shocked and honored that my husband of only a few months was willing to sacrifice his own life to save mine. That was not something that I had never expected of him. I always envisioned waiting like my Mom had done for a kidney from the UNOS list.

A month later, I was driving to work when I received a call from one of the transplant coordinators that my husband was in fact a candidate to be my donor.  After all of the tears poured down my face, I was parked in the parking lot of my school and I looked up to find the most beautiful rainbow right in front of me. I knew at that moment that this wasn’t by chance, this was fate. I called my husband to tell him the news and we both breathed a sigh of relief. After many trips from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, we decided that the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was going to be the place we had our kidney transplant. This was the same hospital with the same team of doctors that my Mom had when she had her transplant. When the doctors all remembered her and her transplant, we knew we weren’t just a number and that we are in good hands.

The morning of our transplants, almost one year after getting married, my Dad, my Mom and my sister came to pick up my husband and me to take us to the hospital. My husband’s parents followed us. It was hard knowing our lives were about to change forever. My husband was called in first to be prepped and have surgery first. I remember going in to see him before his surgery and just sobbing that if he wanted to back out, it was OK and that we could just go home and I would wait for a kidney. He told me no, and that he was doing this for me and for our family. He tried to make me laugh with the silly hairnet he was wearing, but I couldn’t help but cry. My husband was about to sacrifice his life and it was all for me. That is the kind of love that every girl dreams of, but just not quite like this.

As I sat in the waiting room with my Mom on one side and my mother-in-law on the other side of me staring at the screen with updates on where my husband was, those minutes felt like an eternity. They both kept telling me to stop looking at the screen and that everything was going to be fine. Well, they were right. When I went in for surgery, all I asked was to see my husband as soon as it was over. I wanted to make sure he was OK. I woke up in the recovery room and my Mom was standing over me and holding my hand. I asked to see my husband and sure enough, they wheeled my bed over to his where he was awake and waiting to go to his room. I was so relieved to see him and so happy that we were both OK.

The next morning when I woke up, I was on a mission to see my husband. They had put us on opposite sides of the floor so we would get up and go see each other. My mom pushed my IV cart as we slowly walked over to his room. When I got to the doorway, he said “Oh man, you’re up and walking already?” It made me laugh and that was when I felt the pain of the transplant. We joke that he made me laugh so hard it hurt. We spent our first wedding anniversary recovering from our transplant. My husband’s kidney is the greatest gift I will ever receive. He gave me a second chance at life and for that, I will be eternally grateful. He is not only my husband, but he is my best friend, my soul mate (by every definition of the word), and the father to our beautiful son.

 

feature image Fernanda Nuso via Unsplash

Melissa Christopher
Tinybeans Voices Contributor

My name is Melissa. I am a mom to an incredible 5 year old boy. My husband, my son, and I live in the same town that I grew up in. In those 5 years of being a mom, I have learned a lot about myself and can't wait to share it with you. 

Eva Ingvarson Cerise, Bump + Baby Editor
Eva lives in northern Utah with her husband and daughter and misses her grown-up stepdaughter, who lives in another state. She began her career as a magazine writer, editor and copy editor for publications such as Bon Appétit, and then spent more than a decade developing content and defining the content strategy and user experience for websites in the financial and consumer space, such as Evite. As a recent transplant to Utah, she is enjoying exploring the area with her family.

What’s the best piece of advice you got while pregnant?
Let go of your idea of how things should be and focus on how they are.

Favorite baby travel hack?
Pack a clean-up kit with baby wipes, disinfecting wipes, Ziploc bags, garbage bags, extra diapers and a change of outfitsyours and your baby’s. Storing everything you need in the same place makes it easier to manage messes when they happen. And they will.

What’s in your diaper bag or purse you can’t live without?
A small flashlight. My daughter finds it endlessly fascinating, so I save it for when I really need her to be calm and content, like when we’re waiting for our meal at a restaurant.

Your favorite city to visit with your family and why:
Stockholm. I was born there but moved to the US as a child. It’s a beautiful, walkable city with lots to do, especially in the summertime. I also have lots of family in the area and love to catch up with them.

Your idea of a perfect Saturday (or any day) with your family:
A lazy morning spent reading in bed, followed by a nature hike and an excursion to a local museum, farmers market, zooany venue that makes my daughter’s eyes light up.

The most surprising thing you’ve learned as a mom:
Just how fascinating it is to watch these little beings learn and grow. Every month, I find myself saying, “This is the most amazing age.” And they all are. It all feels miraculous and I’m so grateful to experience it.

Contact Eva: eva.cerise@tinybeans.com

We all know how important it is for parents to stay connected online (now more than ever!). Working from home, social distancing and homeschooling can be isolating and overwhelming, so we’ve found a bunch of Facebook groups you can join to reach out and connect with other parents in the Dallas community. Read on to find that support, shared knowledge and camaraderie are just a few clicks away in a local online group for parents in the DFW.

Mom and child celebrating mother's day in San Diego
iStock

Dallas Moms
This massive group of almost 10,000 member moms was created in December 2014. It is a community made up of moms who work outside the home as well as some who have a side gig, work from home, are budding entrepreneurs, do volunteer work, etc. They share  talents, do good deeds, share great ideas, help each other with mom questions, inspire each other, help each other find humor and be supportive overall.

Dallas Moms Community Group for Working Moms
This is an  online neighborhood group, sponsored by Dallas Moms (formally Dallas Moms Blog). Working moms chat about kids and the balance (or lack thereof) between work and parenting. 

Black Metro Moms of Dallas
Black Metro Moms of Dallas is a community of moms living and working in the Dallas metroplex. Whether you are a new mom or you are about to have an empty nest, this group wants you to have a place where you can socialize, have fun, meet other moms, have meet ups with moms and their kids, support each other, get advice, give advice, share information and inspire each other.

iStock

Transplant Parents of Dallas
This group started as a Meetup group in 2013 and have evolved into a Facebook only group of parents who have transplanted to Texas from other states or countries. This purpose of this group is to connect to other transplants and provide resources to each other as we all navigate Dallas together.

Black Moms of Suburbia - North Of Dallas
Black Moms of Suburbia's mission is to partner with organizations to create opportunities where Black mothers can authentically be heard and enlighten communities by allowing them to share their experiences. They strive to dismantle racism, discrimination and inequality by hosting curated events that support diversity and inclusion.

Dallas Jewish Parents
This group is a great resource for our community focused on providing valuable information on events, activities, opinions and various service providers. It's a place for us to support each other and give a voice to our community.

iStock

Special Needs Parents of North Texas
This group was created for special needs parents to seek advice, referrals and support. This is an open discussion page for those in North Texas. Because you're never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village . .  all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier.

Dallas Dads Group
The Dallas Dads Group is a diverse community of fathers taking an active role in their children’s lives. They meet several times a month; with our kids at parks, playgrounds, museums, parent-and-me classes, and living rooms across the DFW area. They’ll also organize parenting workshops and “Dad’s Night Out” events to give our members an opportunity to socialize, learn and support each other as we navigate parenthood.

iStock

Autism Mamas DFW
This group is a place where parents of Autistic kiddos can share their experiences, get support and know they are not alone.

Dallas Moms of Multiples
This group was created to share ideas, ask questions, and vent about the joys of having multiples.

Fort Worth Moms Group
It really does take a village so this group meets regularly to support each other, cry together and laugh until we pee! The group enjoys play dates and Moms Night Out

Do you have a parenting group that you’d like added to this list? Send an email to kate@tinybeans.go-vip.net

—Kate Loweth

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If you want to add a little greenery to your living space this summer, ALDI has you covered. Every week you’ll be able to add to your growing collection of houseplants. Each variety will be available for a limited time only.

4″ Lucky Bamboo

Bamboo

These bamboo plants come in decorative pots. They will be available on Jul. 8. Each retails for $5.99.

4″ Succulent in Tins

Succulent

You don’t even need to transplant these succulents since they come in these cute tin planters. These plants will be available Jul. 15. Each retails for $4.99.

Mini Cactus

Cactus

These pint-sized cacti look great displayed together. Find them at your local ALDI on Jul. 28. Each retails for $2.49.

 

Aloe Vera Plant

Aloe Vera

Grab your very own aloe vera plant starting Jul. 29. Each retails for 3.99.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

All photos courtesy of ALDI

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If you love plants, but don’t exactly have a green thumb then succulents may be the perfect variety to add to your collection. This popular garden variety come in a wide assortment of styles and colors. Starting Jun. 17 you’ll be able to pick up a plant (or two or three) from your local ALDI.

Succulent

Since succulents require minimal care and watering they can be a great solution when you want to add a little bit of greenery indoors or to your outdoor patio.

Succulent

Since they will only be available for a limited time, grab these quickly before supplies run out.

Succulent

You can keep your new plants in the pots they came in or transplant them into a fun planter.

Succulent

 

Each mini succulent retails for 1.99.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

All photos courtesy of ALDI

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When Hillary Weidner posted a pic of her kiddos’ lemonade stand, the mom to three never expected what would happen next.

Weidner, and best friend Amanda Zerbe, have a combined six children. Zerbe’s five-year-old son Jack set up the stand over Labor Day weekend, and Weidner’s kids joined in on the fun. In 45 minutes the Weidner-Zerbe lemonade stand made a whopping $148.

Instead of using the money on toys and candy, the families decided to donate the earnings to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital—where Weidner’s oldest daughter Beatrice received a liver transplant. Born with a rare liver disease, Beatrice needed a transplant to thrive and survive. Luckily, her mom was a perfect match. Weidner told Good Morning America, “It was a crazy, traumatic, amazing experience.” She went on to add, “We owe so much to the hospital.”

The two moms decided to take a pic of their combined families with an over-sized check for the $148 donation. Weidner posted the photo on Instagram with a request for matching donations to the hospital via Venmo.

The photo, and request, went viral—with the donation total climbing to over $125,000!

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Hillary Weidner via Instagram 

 

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When Jaiden Cowley posted a question on the Mom Squad Facebook page, she didn’t expect the response she got. The mom was in Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children with her 18-month-old daughter Amira and was in desperate need of—a coffee.

Cowley’s daughter is waiting for a heart transplant and the mama spends plenty of time at Sick Kids. When she posted, “Is anyone at sickkids right now? I have a huge havor to ask. I’m in the er and I can’t leave my daughter alone, but I really need a coffee,” she thought someone else in the hospital might read her words and help. But instead, she got a sweet surprise!

Half an hour after Cowley posted on Facebook a woman named Elizabeth showed up in the ER with a Starbucks Venti iced coffee. Cowley told TODAY, “I never expected someone to get in their car and drive to me.” She also added, “As Elizabeth was leaving, she said, ‘I’m so glad I could do this for you and let me know if you need anything else.'”

Elizabeth wasn’t the only mama who rushed to help. Another generous Mom Squad-er asked for Cowley’s email, sending her $50 to buy coffee. Cowley said of this kind act, “It was such a nice gesture that I started crying.”

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Jeshoots via Pixabay

 

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Sure, the label “Power Mom” can be a bit intimidating — especially in this city. (Do they sleep? Have talons? What’s the deal?) But we promise, after reading about this group of awesome, accomplished women, even the most wary among you will feel pumped. Representing fields ranging from design, media, education, science, fashion, finance and beyond — and often possessing a killer entrepreneurial streak — these ladies are inspiring examples of sisters doin’ it for themselves, while also making family a priority. (Oh, but “Work/Life” balance? They all kind of call B.S. on that concept, and offer their own take on it.) Click through to meet your new lady-crushes!

Tina Roth Eisenberg, CEO & Founder, Tattly; Creator, Creative Mornings/TeuxDeux/Friends/swissmiss

We dare you to find a more effective multi-hyphenate creative in NYC. It's not even that Tina Roth Eisenberg does a lot of things, or that she does a lot of things well. It's that she does so many cool and inspiring things really, really well. The project of hers you're likely most familiar with is Tattly, a temporary tattoo company inspired by the less-than-inspiring designs of the ephemeral ink her daughter Ella, 10, started coming home wearing five years ago. A designer originally from Switzerland (hence the name of her blog, swissmiss), Roth Eisenberg has seen several side projects organically develop into businesses, including a global breakfast lecture series for the creative community Creative Mornings; a to-do app called TeuxDeux, and a coworking space for creatives dubbed Friends. Yet another "project" of hers is son Tilo, six.

Yet Another Reason To Like Her: She and her son love to draw together, and he even has a YouTube channel where he teaches you how to draw. She and Ella recently started cooking together, "pretty much because we started following tastemade.com videos on Instagram." A recent transplant to Fort Greene, Roth Eisenberg became so enchanted with stoop life that she gave hers its own hashtag on Instagram. (#brooklyntreehousestoop)

Work/Life: "I get up super early and get a lot done while my kids are still sleeping. This allows me to not have to work late. I try to never work on weekends. Family time is sacred. I sometimes drop balls, I am not proud of it. But I had to learn that there is only so much I can get done. I recently managed to not be so hard with myself,  which is obviously way easier when you work for yourself and set your own deadlines."

photoCatalina Kulczar

Who’s the Power Mom in your life? (Besides you or your spouse, of course.) Sing her praises in the comments below!

— Mimi O’Connor