Strawberry Pickin' . .

I have been wanting to pick strawberries for the past several years but for some reason or another (children) have always seemed to miss the season.

Well we did it! However, as many of you parents know, when you have children (no matter what age) things don't always go as you plan.

Here's how my version goes . .

Go to church with the family, all three boys are in good spirits. So hubby says lets just go from Church to pick strawberries like you wanted. Ooh really, truly I am so excited, we go in our church clothes, thank god they were Capri's and khakis and not suits and skirts. I tell Boo that we should take the boys to eat first so that they will be content. Boys all eat, Scout is just about falling asleep in his car seat so I think to myself . . . GREAT. Scout will sleep in the car while the older boys help us pick and we'll be out of there in no time. . . . . WRONG!

We pull up to the farm and my mouth is watering while my brain is contemplating which to make first, Jam, shortcake, pie . . . oh the possibilities and I'm gonna make them all . . . . Again WRONG!

Scout apparently sensed us wanting to do something so he somehow gets his second wind and is raring to go. Boo and I and the three boys set out to pick. The woman shows us that there are various types to pick and hands us all boxes. She points out that there is a goat (yep a goat) for the boys to pet, feed and also swings in the shade. Oh the shade, I apparently did not think that one through too well because there was NONE, and it was 85 degrees.

Okay so we set out, the boys, 15 and almost 13 get excited, start picking 1, 3, 5 and then after 10 minutes, they start throwing them at each other. Boo and I get that under control and the oldest one (Sloth) has to go to the port-a-john (YUCK - thank god they had hand sanitizer). On his way out of there 10 minutes later (have NO idea how he endured it in there that long), anyways on his way out he spots a frog and that is his entertainment. Boo and I pick feverishly until Scout tries to run the fields and falls smack onto his face right in dirt. I clean him up and take him to feed the goat and swing (by now my jam and shortcake dreams are fading quickly). Our middle son comes up to help with Scout and I go join the hubby picking. God love my hubby's dedication, he just kept picking away finding the biggest, plumpest ones in the entire crop. I approach him and he's just drenched in sweat (poor guy). I jump right in and start picking as one box is pretty much full and another is on its way.

We pick and sweat and pick and sweat and we realize we must be getting old because we can't tolerate the heat like we used to but we still keep going on. Meanwhile the boys are bored (sorry guys) and seek us out, not to help but to complain about the heat. So we tell them to sit in the car with the AC on with Scout while we pick. Poor boys, must have been from all the hard work horsing around, chasing a frog and going to the bathroom. Boo and I just keep picking and talking in amazement at how lazy our younger generation is and then we said and one point, WTH, we brought them to help and there they sit in AC while we are working and sweating, isn't that one of the perks of kids, especially boys, to help out and pick up the slack I mean we're older and they're more agile right??!! . . . WRONG.

We painstakingly finish what we can, pay for them and start heading out and then both look in the rear view mirror to see not one, not two but ALL three boys asleep on the way home. We just look at each other in sheer amazement and realize we worked our butts off as kids for our parents and it appears we will be doing the same as parents - - YEESH.

Oh and I do have to say that the next time I bite into a sweet juicy piece of fruit, I'm going to remember how much WORK went into picking it and appreciate it that much more!