For Easter, we gave each daughter her own bonsai tree kit to grow little trees from seeds to then prune and shape for the next several years. It’s a skill we decided to learn together.
We laughed when we realized that, by the time we begin our pruning, Sarah will have left for college and Kate will be in her senior year of high school. But thinking this long term has brought us a new kind of joy. It’s a waiting, patient kind of anticipation of the bonsai trees coming.
Just this last week, a few of the seeds we planted on Easter morning have sprouted. Some will take several more weeks.
Every morning, we check our seeds, assess the moisture of the soil, and live in the long-term joy of bonsai trees.