This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro.

When I was growing up, my mother and grandmother had a flower and vegetable garden in our backyard. I spent countless hours outside with them, watching them as they planted different flowers and nurtured their growth. It was a lot of fun and an awesome bonding experience, one I’ve long hoped to be able to continue with my mom and Annabel. Annabel is ALL ABOUT flowers, and really wants to start a vegetable garden. There’s just one problem: Annabel is a flower-killer.

All the visions of my mother and me planting flowers alongside Annabel have flown out the window, because all Annabel wants to do is PICK flowers. Obviously, picking flowers in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s just the EXTENT that Annie is picking them: constantly.

If she’s outside, she’s plucking flowers off their bushes and jamming them into her pockets, her hair, her arms. I’m serious – give Annie five minutes and she could completely prune any bush in any yard of its flowers – I know, because she’s done it in our yard! When our flowers started growing enmasse a few months ago, I knew things were going to have to change, because I really want Annabel to appreciate flowers so we can grow some of our own.

I came up with a plan. I told Annie we were going on an adventure and took her on a trip to our local garden center. At first, I just let her run around and marvel at all the flowers.

At one point I started talking to her about how you grow and care for flowers. I told her how sometimes you grow them from seeds, and sometimes you buy “baby flowers” that you take home.

I told her that seeds and baby flowers have to be potted with a special kind of dirt called soil that has all sorts of important nutrients that make the flowers strong and beautiful, and I showed her the bags of Miracle-Gro my grandmother used to use. She made the connection that soil = food.

She remembered that watering flowers is also important, and I confirmed that was true. I told her that all of these things, along with sunshine, are necessary for beautiful flowers, but most importantly, growing flowers takes TIME. I told her we can’t just pluck them the second they sprout, and we can’t pluck every flower we see because then all our hard work was gone.

I said, “Annie, do you want to help me take care of our flowers?”

Annie: YES!

For the last few weeks, Annie has watered our flowers every day. She LOVES it.

We also reached a deal – she can pick three SMALL wildflowers a day. Our bigger flowers can only be picked for special occasions, with permission from me or Mike. She usually gives the flowers she picks to her teachers, coaches, or friends. I love her sweet heart.

I think that Annie is ready for that garden. My mom and I are going to take her back to the garden center, and we’re going to pick out some new flowers and vegetables. I can’t wait to create these memories with her like I have from my own childhood. She’s going to have so much fun getting her hands dirty and growing her very own garden.

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro. The opinions and text are all mine. The opinions and text are all mine.