Dandelion, to a gardener no word could be worse
From a man's lips it's often combined with a curse
The neighbor smirks as he looks over your fence
Lotta good it did what with the money you spent
They pop up by the thousands in the middle of the night
Right after you mowed all day, it just doesn't seem right
Along busy highways standing fearless strong and tall
Out of cement sidewalks, tar roads and brick walls
And yet if you should pick one and study it for a bit
Beyond the word Dandelion you'd have a better fit
I tell you for certain, what will take your breath away
Is when your child hands you a dandelion bouquet
Author Eileen Clark
My granddaughter just had her first child and I wanted to give her something to keep in her head as she goes through life raising her children. I told her about an experience I had with my son David. One of the very important things as a parent to do is always pay attention to what your child is telling you. I did try to do that but believe at times I may have failed. It was before your mom was born Chelsea, one day when your grandfather, you dad Jeff and I, your great-grandfather Lincoln and great-grandmother Ruth were coming home from a fair.
We were on a highway in a suburban type area, beautiful homes set back from the road with nice manicured yards. My son David, who was three at the time, started shouting, “There are tigers in that house, there are tigers in that house!” We all laughed since David was always talking about apes and tigers, and we had just been to a fair. As we kept moving along down the highway I could see David was really upset. He looked up at me with his big blue eyes and said, “Mommy, I really did see tigers in that house, honest Mommy.” I pleaded with my father in-law that we must turn around and go back.
I literally got booed by a few in the car, but this time with a little sharper tone in my voice Gramps did turn the car around and back we went. It was going to be pretty hard to know how far back we had to go because no one saw the house with tigers and so which kind of house do you look for ? What color was it, was it big or small ? I then said, we should keep going until we see the house with the tigers in it, after all, he shouted it out as soon as he thought he saw them. You can imagine how well that went over. Everyone was nonchalant about it but David and I kept our eyes glued to the left side of the road because he did know what side the house was on.
Holy Molly ! This beautiful house had two big tigers enclosed in their garage, David did see it. My father in-law pulled right into the driveway, parked the car, and we all just gazed at the awesome sight of the two big tigers and praised David up and down. Always pay attention to what your child is telling you Chelsea, I was so glad I did!
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