Mommy Goes Green

The following is a guest post from Tracey Bianchi, author of the newly released book “Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet.”

The Magnolia Tree just outside our kitchen window is the first to bloom every year. When I see these fuzzy little nodes erupt into flowers a soft smile creeps into my very soul. It is officially Spring, and Springtime in the Midwest is no small thing. This seasonal shift means emergence from a cocoon of duvets and wool socks. It means flip flops and pale white feet hit the pavement everywhere.

Come late-March, my children are like caged animals that have been released into the wild. Shrieks of joy, a flurry of sidewalk chalk and bike helmets litter the driveway. They rip open the patio door and dash outside still hopping and pulling on shoes along the way. It is bedlam and bliss all rolled up into one sunshine filled afternoon. The sign of many more to come.

And as a mom who has hollered and cajoled her way through the long winter I am just as giddy for fresh distractions and a reunion with big wheels and bicycle helmets. This change of place has been a long time coming and I find myself yelling less and playing hop scotch more.

Finally.

I am completely and utterly thankful for Spring (well, almost).

You see, all this sunshine and balmy weather means that I also need to plot out my garden. The fresh vegetables that will dance across our table all summer. Sugar snap peas, broccoli and beans. A web of crooked carrots that hide underground and renegade pumpkin vines that take over the lawn.

I need to find the garden gloves, shovels, stepping stones. I need to tie back the random rose bush that has cropped up in the middle of our little plot. And more than anything, I need to find time and energy.

Time and energy. Time and energy.

The hot commodities of motherhood. The thought of it all actually makes me long for February once again. Less pressure to perform.

I confess, I am a “green mom” but a reluctant gardener.

But I will forge ahead this year just as in the past. I will plunge my hands into the dirt as my toddler daughter drags behind me stomping on all the seeds I so gingerly settled into their homes. I will water and weed. I will stand with my earth-laden hands on my hips, brush my bangs from my face, and I will sigh.

I know people who love to garden. I envy them. I wish I had an eye, a heart, a passion for it. Sort of like I wish I was Rachel Ray on occasion. Oh to have food and festivity just splash out of a pan whenever I wanted.

Not me. I was born with a normal, peach colored thumb.

But I will carry on this Spring and begin planting lettuce next week. And if there is any part of you that can rally the strength to do the same I beg you to join me. Reluctant or not, there is no greater joy at the dinner table than eating the food your family grew in the backyard. There is no “greener” endeavor you can embark upon other than connecting yourself to the very plants that give us life.

To see my wiry son pull a handful of string beans for dinner, to watch my saucy little daughter pop a Roma tomato right off the branch and into her mouth beats pounding a bag of fruit snacks any day. And to watch my second child, with all his defiant middle-child-ness drag a cucumber into the house is to officially trump our industrialized food industry, the grocery store chains, and the picky-eater syndrome all in one glorious moment.

As Spring gives way to Summer I beg you to grow something. Even if you find yourself garden-challenged like me. Drop basil into a pot, toss cilantro on your window sill, or plot out that long awaited vegetable garden. Then sit back alongside your children, with sidewalk chalk and bubbles, and just watch it all grow. There is no greener endeavor.

Tracey Bianchi is a mother of three who lives in the Chicago area. She is the author of the newly released book “Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet”. She is a freelance writer, speaker, and is the Coordinator of Women’s Ministry at her church. You can catch her musings on a more sustainable life at http://traceybianchi.com

Check back tomorrow for our review of Tracey’s new book and a great giveaway!

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