Bedtime tonight was a pleasant surprise. #5 is usually next to impossible to wrangle when it's time to go to sleep. He likes to stay up late and sleep in. I appreciate the sleeping in part. It gives me a chance to get some stuff done in the morning after the older kids go off to school. Tonight he was all tucked in after his third trip to the bathroom and he was looking for another reason to get up again. So I handed him the seed catalog that was on the floor by the bed and told him he could look at it and pick out what he wants to grow in the garden.
Why have I not thought of this before? His exuberance was astounding. You'd think he just won the lottery. He immediately opened it up and started asking questions and pointing out what he wanted to grow. He found the strawberries, and the green beans, the broccoli, and the blackberries. He asked about strawberries and how they grow. Said we'd have to plant the seeds from the harvested strawberries so we could grow enough plants to make enough berries to feed us all and have enough left to dehydrate so we can eat them later. This little guy has got plans!! He said he wanted to grow carrots too, then he found the corn and saw how many versions it came in. He was really excited to see the photo of Oaxacan Green corn. Green is his favorite color presently. I had to rein him in a little - that's a flour corn, not a fresh eating corn. He agreed, he'd rather have a type he can eat fresh. He said "Maybe a yellow or orange kind" (I love that he is thinking in colors).
Then I told him it was time to go to sleep. He wanted to keep perusing the Baker Creek catalog. I told him he could keep it right next to his pillow and that in the morning he could bring it to the table and we could mark all the ones he wants to grow. He was thrilled.
It was still a little struggle to actually get him to sleep, but it wasn't as bad as most nights. So tomorrow we will be looking at seed catalogs. What an awesome discovery! My 4-year-old is excited about seeds and gardening.
On a side note - if anyone happens to have spare seeds for the Oaxacan green corn and you'd be willing to make a 4-year old incredibly happy, I'd love if we could track down a handful of seeds so he can grow green corn. He was so excited about it... even if we can't eat it fresh. Anyone want to donate?