How on earth do you garden, with a toddler in tow?
By GreenMoo
@GreenMoo (11833)
April 30, 2008 1:52pm CST
Please someone give me some hints! How on earth do I do any gardening with my toddler in tow?
If I turn my back he's either trampling the rows or soaking himself with the hosepipe. He seems magnetically attracted to water and I keep finding him on the brink of the water tank. If he's not throwing stones in it then I'm worried it will be himself.
If I keep him by my side then he likes to 'harvest' and 'weed'. Who can blame the poor little chap for getting it wrong? He sees me weeding, so he thinks that pulling up plants is the right thing to do. How's he to tell the difference between the ones that need to come out and the ones I've just spent an hour putting in?!!
I've just come up from our veg field and as you can probably guess I'm feeling a little frayed around the edges. We only went down so I could collect a few nettle leaves, and I had to carry him up soaking wet for the second time today after he irrigated himself in a water channel. Gggrrr!
My dearly beloved really can't understand how I find it so difficult to work down with the veggies when he's out. So please, anyone who manages it, tips please! Or even just sympathy to make me feel better, after ten minutes down there I'm exhausted!
3 people like this
7 responses
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
30 Apr 08
Why not give him his own little gardening space?
If you can't set aside a spot near the garden where he'll be in full view wherever you are, try getting a large pot that you can move around if need be.
Put a few plants or weeds or whatever in it and let him have his own little party. If he pulls them out, put more back in (or even let him pick dandelions or something to 'plant' back in!).
Give him a small watering can or squirt bottle and let him water his own things.
Ask him to pick up all the small rocks he sees and put them all in a pile, let him know he is 'helping' you.
Basically just give him things to keep him occupied that are related to what you're doing.
4 people like this
@sunshinelady (7609)
• United States
2 May 08
This is the same idea I was going to mention. I had not thought of a large pot for him though. This way the pot can be moved whereever in her garden she is at. That is a really good idea. That is the gest of things is to keep his little hands busy and let him know that he is being a help.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
2 May 08
I'm getting some super tips here, and lots of ideas to try.
Keeping weeding and harvesting seperate is probably a very sensible one. Sensible, but I haven't been doing it. Doh!
He's got some little tools and things, but do you think he'll play with them? No, of course not! He wants to play with mine!
2 people like this
@grasshopper5257 (438)
• Canada
30 Apr 08
I can understand your frustration! When my kids were little I would do the gardening when they were taking their afternoon nap. And if it was going to be hot and I needed to garden in the morning, I would use the play pen to keep them contained. Sometimes they would cry and be angry that I wouldn't let them out of the play pen but it was better than trying to keep them dry or keep them from eating plants that I didn't want them to eat! LOL!
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
1 May 08
Both great ideas, but unfortunately no good for me :-( Our veg gardens are too far from the house for me to be able to leave him, and he can climb out of the travel cot I use as a playpen now. I have one of those baby monitors I can use on the garden close to the house, but I'll admit that I love to do NOTHING whilst he's asleep LOL
2 people like this
@grasshopper5257 (438)
• Canada
1 May 08
Yea that makes it tough, maybe you could do your gardening when Daddy is home to help!
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169591)
• United States
1 May 08
I have a lot of sympathy. My kids are around thirty. My son, at a young age, like fifteen months, could be entertained by putting him in an empty toddler pool, for awhile, then it was too easy to get out. I remember that I tried to plant onion sets and he had learned the word "ball". He picked up each one and called it "ball" and threw it. Hard to find in the lawn. He also ate raw green beans. So here are the thoughts of sympathy for you. It will all pass.
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
2 May 08
I'm curious. Why is eating raw green beans a bad thing?
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169591)
• United States
3 May 08
The raw green beans probably were not a bad thing. He ate much more vegetables before he turned five than he ever has sense then. He is also very healthy.
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
2 May 08
I agree with ladyjarhead. I was going to say what she said. Give the child their own spot to do as they please. It will probably be more important to the kid if it is in your garden. That way he'll feel like he is contributing.
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
3 May 08
His own area is more like a sandbox. You shouldn't expect anything from it. But mudpies and dirty hair will keep him busy.
You can even take pictures so you can show the progress when he gets older.
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
6 May 08
It's funny, last night we were talking about setting him up a little irrigation hose of his own. He seems to be so drawn to the ones we're using (kids and water, magnetic huh?!!!) that we figured he might stay put if we gave him one of his own to make a tremendous muddy pile with. Mud washes off after all, I've never minded muddy kids.
@ruby222 (4847)
•
1 May 08
Hi Moo...well ive just been munching my crunchy nuts and reading about your plight...but hard as i may think i cant reaqlly offer any solution..after having looked after my grandson last weekend ..well say no more...you need eyes in the back of your head!...those little fingers are everywhere....I dont think apart from trying to involve him in some way that there is very much that you can do!...but trying to involve a toddler is easier said than done...as you say the trouble is the minute that you turn your back they are into something that they obviously shouldnt be....is it an option to stick a playpen down there for a while??..or maybe he is too big for that!!...but im trying to think of a way for you..!...our dearly beloveds think that we are superwomen you know...and to be quite frank it can wear a bit thin sometimes .
@edgyk8inmomma (2157)
• United States
2 May 08
I feel your pain, I have been there with you many times.I don't have much advice for you, sorry, but I have a load of sympathy. Its tough to find ways to get the things done and please your little tike at the same time. If he's not too rambuntious, maybe you could get one of those play yards and let him play in there whils you do your gardening. You could find some little tykes gardening toys, plastic flowers and such, and he can tend his garden while you tend yours. Other option I would think of is to but up a toddler/baby swing. You'd have to get up and down a lot, but it might buy you a couple minutes of frustration free gardening. If you've got a tree or anything near your garden, you could hang the swing there, buckle him in, give it a push and tend your plants. Talk and sing or play eye-spy while your doing your gardening so he doesn't feel bored or trapped.
Best wishes,
peace and blessings~
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
2 May 08
Lots of good ideas there, thankyou. Our veg field is pretty large, so I'd be willing to bet that once I got him occupied with a swing I'd want to working at the other side, but you're right, I might get something doen in between.
I used to have a pushchair down there that he's sleep in, but sleep is a concept he no longer understands ;-)
@edgyk8inmomma (2157)
• United States
2 May 08
I hear ya there, mine out grew naps pretty quickly too. Do you know what I'm referring to as a play yard? Its a series of interlocking gate like pieces that you can build to suit your space. You can pick it up and move at you need to, but would keep him some what confined and still ample room to play.
@spectrum42 (393)
• United States
14 May 08
You've got my sympathy! Thanks for starting this discussion too, btw. I'm picking up some good hints and will see what works. I tried giving my little one her own spot, but that didn't work out so well. (She wanted to use my spot, not hers.) I put the garden near her play area thinking she would play and I would weed. She thinks weeding is more fun so she follows me instead of playing and then when I'm ready to go in, she wants to play.
My small success so far was getting some weeding done and asking her to pick all the yellow flowers (dandelions) and put them in my pile of weeds. Since the yard is full of them, that kept her busy for a few minutes.
