I’ve been anxiously waiting for this amaryllis to bloom since November.

I started with a lifeless stump of a bulb and a promise on the package of an exquisite bloom by Christmas.

I carefully placed the bulb in a pot, took care to cover the stump with soil and a little water just as the instructions encouraged me to, and then I waited…even though my excitement was insisting that I couldn’t wait.

I started with it on my kitchen table as the centerpiece, so added some charming, tiny stones to the surrounding bare soil to disguise its preliminary lack of beauty…just like my under eye concealer does after a baby induced sleepless night or two.

A week passed without so much as a miniscule peek of green in indication of some form of life.

I figured it wasn’t getting enough light.

I thoughtfully relocated it to a north facing window in my family room and once again I waited.

Over a week later, still nothing.

Maybe it was too cold there?

Determined to get it to fulfill its holiday destiny and unleash its beauty I moved it once again.

Its new stomping ground was upstairs in a warm bathroom on the counter to receive light from a south facing window which was an awkward and inconvenient place for it to be…desperate times called for desperate measures.

A couple of days later, well into December now, there she was!!

A tiny winter cactus green coloured, arrowhead shaped, botanical life form was making it’s escape from the narrow neck of the bulb and it’s debut into our world!!

I did it!!!

She was growing!!

Once I was sure she was thriving, I moved her back into her rightful place in the center of the kitchen table.

The promise of a bloom for Christmas was never realized but a steady and interesting growth to oversee on a daily basis was.

Now it’s January 20th. and she’s in full bloom…what a beauty.

After the months of tireless care, growth monitoring and waiting, I have enormous pride in what she has transformed into but now I worry about what happens next.

Now she’s confident and full of poise and can get anyone to give her a little water once a week…she doesn’t need me anymore.

Soon she’ll be graduating from school, getting her driver’s license, and leaving town with her boyfriend to secretly get married…WHOA!!

I’m sorry…I’m blurring the lines between my children and my flowers again.

I suppose the convoluted point I’m trying to make is we should enjoy each stage of our little ones’ precious lives and live in each moment rather than pining over their graduation to the next stage.

It’s human nature to “can’t wait” for our new borns to be able to hold their heads up on their own, and when they can do that, we can’t wait for them to sit on their own, and when they can do that, we can’t wait for them to start eating solids…the “can’t waits” are endless.

I think we as parents need to slow down and think of how we can enjoy and be present in the stage our kids are in right this minute rather than long for tomorrow’s or next week’s stage.

Time has a way of marching on by itself without the human race egging it on.

Whether your baby is 6 months old, or heading off to school, you can make batches of simple fruit purees for their first taste of solid food or as a special dessert straight from their lunch box.

They, and even you, can enjoy fruit purees at whatever stage they happen to be in at this very moment…so no need to wish our lives away.

:-)

I think most people who pack lunches for kids reach for the convenient little apple sauce packs at one point or another…my mom used to pack them for me and I used to pack them for my older son.

Instead, you can take a few of these apple berry purees from the freezer the night before school and put into a small food storage container to throw into their lunch bag in the morning.

Don’t forget the spoon though…I’ve had returned lunches from my son with an explanation of, “how did you think I was going to eat this mom…with my nose?”

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Apple Berry Joy

Age – 8 months + (due to the use of strawberries which have a higher tendency to trigger an allergic reaction.) Leave them out of the recipe if you want to make for a 6 month + baby.

Ingredients

3 Apples (a sweeter variety such as McIntosh or Gala rather than a tart Granny Smith)
1 cup of strawberries (fresh or frozen)
½ cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Baby Steps

Peel, core and chop apples
Add apples to a large sauce pan. Cover and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring often.
Add strawberries and blueberries to apples and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Cooking times may vary depending on how thick the apples have been chopped, but as long as apples are tender and the mixture looks juicy you should be fine.
Remove from heat and let stand for a few minutes to cool.
Transfer to a blender, food processor or bowl to use a hand blender to puree to a smooth consistency.
Transfer to freezing trays to be used within 3 months, or to a food storage container and put in the fridge to be used within 48 hrs.

Makes approx. 10 Servings (1 serving size = 2 tbsp.)

Have fun and take advantage of doing something with your kids today that they won’t want to do once they’ve advanced into their next stage.