Planting Dandelions

"They were here!"

I knew it.  I knew they'd been in my house while I was gone.

Little cars here, milk messes there, dino findings under the couch, evidences of an ouchie, and from-home-toys left behind, all proclaim the truth about the toddlers previous presence, "They were here."

And I'm sure being little toddlers tied to their car seats,  it was a long destination for Jayden and Miss Lilly, to arrive at our house, after all, they can't see anything out those windows except passing telephone poles and a few billboards.

Remember those maps on the wall of the visitor centers where you stopped for a rest along the interstate during a long drive to your vacation's destination?  The buildings were usually of brick, and the wall map always had a pin to draw your eyes with "You are here!" written in big red letters.

Well, my eyes are drawn to last nights ravages; little evidences of little people, "They were here!"

***
In case you don't know how my house is laid out, I can stand in the kitchen, look over the pony wall, across the family room to see whoever is standing at the sliding glass doors on the deck outside.  Well, adults I can see.  Children and pets I can not see unless I reposition myself.

One day, "Knock, knock, knock" I hear, and it's a quick happy knock but not adult-loud.  At first I thought, "What is that?"  Brain kicks into gear,  "Sounds like knocking on glass."
So I step from behind the pony wall looking to all the doors to see if I can catch a glimpse of something or someone, when I spy little 3 y.o. Jayden.  He's grinning happily, clutching his jacket slung over his arm, face pressed against the glass trying to see in, and pecking at the glass with his other hand.

I opened the door and he says, "Hi.  It's me!"  I'm laughing now because I sure do know him.  He's still talking, "Pa-em?  I love you."

Ah, my heart gets all soggy sweet.

***

Just the other day when Jayden came to visit he brought nothing except his jacket.  So out came the toys.  First the red trike.  While I cleared a path, he took off.  "Pa-em", he called.  And, let me tell you I don't know how he says my name.  It starts out sounding like Pam, but it ends up sounding like pen as in ink pen, it seems like 2 syllables but he says 'em snappy together as one, really fast, something like "Pa-em."

"I found white ball.  I need a hole."
So I get the bulb planter and make a hole.  Jayden gets pouty, points to the cement pad under his feet, and insists, "Right here."  I had to laugh at his thinking I could dig a hole in concrete.  He's so innocent.

While I put the bulb planter back in the garage, he spies a red handled tool and scuttles out of the garage into the fenced yard, plops on the ground and starts digging.   WITH A SCREWDRIVER he digs!!!!  Many holes!  I tell you, he dug a bunch of holes.  I just kept my eye on that screwdriver.  If I didn't, hard telling when and where I'd find it next.  I know this.  Six boys later it's something I know.

This Jayden works hard.  After triking, playing with the kitties, swinging a golf club at the white ball 20 times, swinging in the tree, building towers out of buckets, and digging holes, I knew he worked hard.  In the end, he plucked two gossamer dandelions and planted them both into one hole.  "Look, Pa-em, look!"

The world needs more dandelions, right?
Well, it does need more innocent dandelion planters.

If for no other reason than to say "I was here."