The cut in the picture looks a little more like a "U", and I'd make it sharper, like a "V".
This is assuming, of course that the base of the plant is still viable.
Jerk kids.
Posted on 08/10/2009 11:38:49 AM PDT by jurroppi1
Please help me out! My daughter grew a massive sunflower from seed in a wildflower garden that we planted late this spring. This flower was MAGNIFICENT, it had eight blooms and 3 or 4 more on the way! Neighbor boys cut it down with a tent pole this morning and Bachman's has told us that it will likely die.
We are in MN (twin cities area), so I'm trying to find somewhere, anywhere, that has sunflowers (mature ones preferably). Bachman's told us no dice - they don't have any.
My 2.5 year old is going to be crushed, and Mom and I are having a hard time trying to figure out how we will explain this to her. This is a brutal lesson for her to learn at 2.5 years old. She has been nurturing these flowers from seed - watering them herself, checking on them everyday, waiting for new blooms, etc...
The cut in the picture looks a little more like a "U", and I'd make it sharper, like a "V".
This is assuming, of course that the base of the plant is still viable.
Jerk kids.
Put it in water.
Continue to care for it inside.
Shift attention elsewhere.
WRT the neighbor kids, remember to shorten your lead.
Do you have a rottweiler or maybe a pitbull.....? Or any dog that will attack on command?
Tell her that’s nature. Things grow, then they get eaten by other things (sometimes, neighborhood boys help by cutting it down so it can be eaten by bugs).
Far be it from me to assume I know how your daughter should react. But I do have a marvelous idea. This would be a great lesson in forgiveness.
First you sit down with your daughter and explain to her what happened.
Tell her the neighbor couldn't know how much the flower meant to her.
Explain to her what Jesus said about Forgiveness.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven."
Then lovingly define forgiveness for her. "Honey, forgiveness is when you give up your right to hurt someone for hurting you."
Then tell her she should confront the neighbor after a little time has past and tell him to his face that she forgives him and she wants to know if he would like to help plant another sunflower next year or the next possible time.
Now of course it will never go off without a hitch. But that doesn't mean your daughter can't learn a great lesson on how to forgive even though she might not want to forgive.
Lastly, I want to remind you that you solicited advise and that nothing I said here persumes to make any judgment on you or your family. For all I know this was the first thing you did. Nevertheless, may God Bless Your Daughter, your family and the neighbor child. I hope everything turns out great.
How is asking for advice in an area outside of one's expertise indicative of being a liberal?
The man is trying to protect his 2.5 year old daughter from a situation that she's too young to learn from.
What a disgraceful thing to say.
Whatever way you chose to deal with this situation, I would like to suggest planning a new fall garden and planning next years >NEW flower garden< and get her something a little special that will help—like a cute watering can or some lady bug garden boots.
There’s always indoor gardening too!
Best wishes and I hope this turns into a victory for all of you.
2 and 3 year olds are flexible and easily move on to the next thing!
Three distinct causes for this:
1. living in a city
2. living in Twin Cities
3. living in MN
Its child abuse to continue to raise your kids under those “Franken” conditions.
Unfortunately, mature sunflowers don’t transplant very well.
If you try, you might end up with a dead sunflower. Which is just as bad.
I hope you have a friendly neighbor with a sunflower plant. Ask the neighbor if you can “adopt” their plant...I know I’d gladly allow it if you explained this story to me.
Then you and your daughter could go visit her adopted plant on occasion.
It will probably grow new flowers depending on where it was cut
First. Take a deep breathe.
Second. Tell her that there is a wonderful lesson of rebirth aand the resilience of God’s order to be seen.
Third. Tell her that it is time to cut the flowers and put them in a vase and maybe plant some new ones.
Fourth. Tell her that the main stem has been cut so don’t be suprised when we get outside to see the favorite sunflower.
It’s not so brutal really. It is sweet that she has enjoyed this flower so much but it is important to remember how quickly life can be taken by any of a number of means and to see how surely it can be replenished.
It’s up to you to teach her the positives that go with this dissappointing end.
So, this could be turned into a first lesson on capitalism v. socializm at a very young age.
I’m still looking, but was hoping others may have a quick answer (since everyone here always seems to be so helpful). Thanks for the response.
I agree. I get really tired of people on this site accusing others of being liberals for no good reason.
Is there any real reason you can’t be honest with your child?
The idea of secretly replacing flowers, toys, fish, etc always seemed a bit dishonest.
I’m sure you think I’m callous but things break and die and it doesn’t always get easier when you get older.
I am trying to figure out exactly how to get to this point with her and am hoping that she’ll be nonchalant about it, but I fear she will be devastated - she worked hard on this.
Thanks for the thought though - I do appreciate it.
Their Mother is dealing with them effectively enough, but if I need some muscle, I’ll let you know.
LOL, thanks for the laugh.
“The little twit should be made to apologize to your daughter.”
I’m trying as hard as possible to understand the innate curiosity of a small child (the ones that did this are probably in the 5-7 years old or possibly younger range). We are hoping the mother of the child and his friend will tell them they need to do just that.
At that point I worry how my daughter will react to that since she is only 2.5 years old (she may be angry, accept an apology and move on), who knows, but it would how a lot of character on their/their Mother’s part to provide the gesture. I would be sure to thank them and tell them that they were right to do it and that I appreciated the gesture.
All true, but something a two and a half year old will accept and understand?
Not likely.
Thanks for the perspective though.
Thanks for the thought :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.