“I like flowers. I also like children, but I do not chop their heads and keep them in bowls of water around the house.” (George Bernard Shaw)

I hadn’t been married to #5 too long when he brought up the subject of house plants. ”I notice you don’t have a single house plant,” he commented. “Is there a reason?”

Yes.

I am “plant challenged.” I have never been big into live plants inside a house. I appreciate them in the homes of others, I just can’t keep them alive in my own. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t talk to them, or because I forget about them for periods of time, or if I don’t water them enough or if I’ve never had the right facing windows to provide optimal sunshine.

But rather than beat myself up over something I clearly have no talent with, I’ve chosen to look at it in this light: I don’t have house plants and it’s ok, because I’m growing children.

So not too long ago, #5 took me to a nursery and we purchased a hanging basket of flowers for our front porch. We brought it home, hung it up, watered it (we thought) and thoroughly enjoyed it for one full week—until we found it hanging there, dried and dead and lifeless, approximately 8 days after we purchased it.

My husband looked at me, shook his head and lamented about the money we had (basically) thrown away, although he felt a little less sad when I reminded him that although we’d looked at the $60 and $100 hanging arrangements, we had purchased one in the $20 (or less) price range. Not as painful a loss as it might have been. We both shook our heads and laughed at the fact that we couldn’t keep a basket of flowers alive for more than one week.

And then it hit me. We have 8 children: his oldest turned 24 years old last week, his second oldest turns 22 years old this week, I have an 18 year old, he has an almost-17 year old, I have a 16 year old, he has a 13 year old, I have an 11 year old, my youngest is 5 years old…and we’ve managed to keep ALL of them alive! (A bigger achievement for some than others, I admit. For example, my youngest is a VERY BUSY kid and always has been. It has taken not just our entire family but all of our friends and neighbors to help us keep him safe. In fact, since the divorce, his father has called me from prison on each of our son’s birthdays to congratulate me and the rest of the family on keeping the youngest alive for another year. A bit of light hearted humor based on some truth!)

Thank goodness we’re better parents than gardeners or florists!

Our children are happy and accounted for. I am blessed beyond anything I could have imagined for myself two years ago.

I think about that each time I walk by that basket of dead flowers—still hanging on the porch, by the way. I’m going to take it down and throw it away in a few days… on July 13. (A landmark day in its own right.) And I’ll continue to enjoy each of our children, and what flowers and plants I am able to keep alive.

“How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.” (Mother Teresa)