Time “March-es” On
My mom has always had a large garden—sometimes multiple gardens. I hated them.
I hated them because they were where vegetables came from, and gross. And there were bugs there, and sometimes snakes. While it was kind of fun to watch my mom elevate her War on Deer to near-nuclear levels (true story: she once told the young boys of our neighborhood to, um, come take care of Number One on the perimeter of the garden, the theory being that the smell of human urine would scare the deer away. We just ended up with every neighborhood boy aged 4-12 firehosing away in our front yard every day.), I had no use for any garden chores except for snapping beans, which I could do inside, in the air conditioning, in front of the T.V.
If my mom’s garden had included pizza makings, as Eve Nicholas suggests in her “Let Them Eat Dirt” article on page 33, I probably would have been a lot more enthusiastic. Gardening not only helps your family grow incredibly eco-conscious produce that tastes great, but teaches kids science, responsibility—and to kids that are a lot less grossed out by bugs than I am, is actually fun. And, even though I hated weeding, it’s because of that garden that I know what real veggies taste like (it’s also why I only eat tomatoes when they’re in season. My mom’s garden turned me into a vegetable snob.)
Also this month, we’ve got Jennifer Murphy’s story on circumcision repair surgery, a procedure her own son had to undergo. The procedure is more common than I would have thought, and every mother with a son should check it out. And anyone who can’t figure out how they’re going to get anything done when their newborn insists on being carried everywhere needs to read Lori Bittenbender’s great piece on babywearing.
We’ve also got our largest Day Camp directory ever, with summer activities that will appeal to every kid, whether they want to take to the stage, hit the water, or build a robot that can take over the world. Well, maybe not exactly that, but there are robot camps. World domination will have to come later. And don’t miss Erin Clement Rushing’s great beauty article on the “lengths” we’ll to go to get great lashes.
Over at ChesapeakeFamily.com, we’ve added two more blogs: In addition to my pregnancy blog, publisher Donna Jefferson will be writing about her experiences as her son prepares to leave the nest, and we have a general blog where we’ll be slapping up local news of interest to families. And don’t forget that our online calendar is updated more frequently than the one you find in the magazine!
As always, thanks for reading—and if you have any comments, questions or concerns, I can always be reached at [email protected]
Happy spring!
