We have names to describe the era when we were born. As an example, I am in Generation X. I actually had to use Google to find this out.
Generation X describes people born between 1965 and 1980. Without giving my age, I can say I am almost as old as anyone in Generation X can be. People in our generation have seen the complete evolution of electronic technology enter our lives.
I am very happy to have lived life without the many technological benefits we have now. We had to work harder for information, learning how to do things. I truly believe this made us stronger and smarter. This made us much more dependent upon our parents. Our parents had different areas of expertise and talent.
This was especially true when it came to gardening. When we were growing up, we found ourselves working and helping in the garden. There were two completely different reasons we might have found ourselves working in the yard. Some kids were generally interested in doing it.
For others, like me, it was because I got into some form of mischief I shouldn’t have. Working in the yard to make mom happy was the way I redeemed myself. In our house, being grounded and sitting in the house didn’t happen. There was no such thing as a “time out.” When I got into trouble it was “time in” as time in the garden.
This is when I learned that I really enjoyed working in the yard. I started volunteering for projects and creating a few of my own. This was my way of playing offense. If I found some way to help around the house that was enjoyable, I might be able to avoid the things nobody wanted to do.
Many of us in Generation X have these stories. The best part of these stories was that when we were working in our yards growing up, mom was right there with us. This is how we learned to do things. Mom is always one of the smartest people you will know.
I believe for the advantages gained with technology that too often something valuable is lost. For answers on how to do things, younger generations default to an online resource. Unfortunately, in my opinion, too many parents encourage this bragging about how resourceful their children are.
These parents are missing out, first, on giving their kids a lesson on how to do something. At the same time this could turn into an opportunity for a valuable life lesson. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to spend time together.
For most of my years working in the gardening business, I have enjoyed hearing stories about family traditions created in the garden. Most of these would be told during Mother’s Day weekend, which is the busiest of the year. This is because for most of us, our Mom is the greatest gardener we have ever known.
In today’s world of social media, young kids are infatuated with the popular people known as influencers. I am very proud to have grown up at a time when we only needed two influencers in our lives. Today we celebrate the one we call Mom. To my Mom in heaven, my great mother in law Cassie and all the great Moms reading this, I say thank you!
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: For many, Mom is the greatest gardener we’ve ever known
Reporting by Chris McKeown, Special to The Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
