Imperfect Flower Arrangements in Mason Canning Jars
When our friends arrived from out of town, and they settled in, it was time to get ready for dinner.
I immediately gave their oldest daughter (who’s 6 years old) a job, as we walked to the front of the yard to where the daisies were. I handed her a small pair of scissors.
We cut Shasta Daisies while her sister and brother were off doing their own thing (as 4 year olds do).
It brought back memories of my childhood when I would go to my mom’s friend Dottie’s house, to spend the night.
She’d give me little jobs to do.
Besides my mom, that’s how I learned as a little girl about hospitality.
It wasn’t only my mom’s responsibility, it was up to her friends to be a part of our lives, too.
Being a part of each other’s lives sometimes takes a little creativity, sometimes not. Some of us are better at certain things than others, but if we just take what we’re each good at, think how we can make the world a better place!
Hospitality is about setting our agendas aside, and making others feel warm and welcome, in our own personal way.
I was happy to give this six year old a job, at her precious young age, of heading to the yard and picking flowers and herbs.
Explaining to her (can you imagine learning at the age of 6 that things don’t have to be perfect?) that a canning jar filled with water will work just fine.
You don’t have to have a fancy vase.
Any kind of arrangement made would be just right.
And perfect for our table.
To add taller plants in the middle and how to use herbs with the flowers.
And then she walked them outside to our dining area and put them on the table where she thought they should go.
A work of art, a lesson of hospitality, a sense of accomplishment, and something beautiful … all at the age of 6.
When is the last time you taught someone younger about the beautiful art of hospitality?
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
Pingback: Day 3. Entertaining. 30 Days of Autumn Inspiration. | reluctantentertainer.com Reluctant Entertainer I Sandy Coughlin - Lifestyle, Entertaining, Food, Recipes, Hospitality and Gardening
Love this. It actually brought a tear to my eye. Can’t wait to teach my daughter!
Love it, Sandy! What a great thing to learn that lesson at an early age. I hope it sticks!
This is such a sweet post! :-) The flowers look lovely!
What a lovely post! You’re making a difference in a little girl’s life. She must feel important, grown up, welcomed, a real part of things. That’s absolutely priceless, and please tell her that I think her arrangements were gorgeous!
Sandy this so warmed my heart! So often people do for children and push them aside in busyness. This little one was so blessed by you. How empowered she is because of that small gift of time you gave her.
We’ve had a 32 year tradition of making pizza every Friday night. 90% of those nights we have company joining us. I started teaching my god-daughter when she was literally just learning to sit up – on the counter next to the pizza pans. She’s now almost 3 and her pizza making skills are truly coming along! She loves those nights as much as we do, with lots of people who usually end up dancing. Always a fun night & it’s just a natural doable hospitality lesson.
I’ve done this with my DD too. The flowers generally get cut quite short (!) but the resulting display doesn’t look any the worse for that. ;)
Beautiful post! It’s not too too often we have little ones at our house..right now most that we know are still pretty little, but last week my oldest was watching a little 5 year old boy and he was outside with me doing a few things before his next babysitter came and got him. I told him if he wanted, he could pick a few daisies and give them to her, that she would probably love them. he loved that idea, picked 3 and held them behind her back to give to her when she got there. It was cute.
I need to get some mason jars! I’ve been seeing them all over pinterest lately. So versatile.
When our GD was small it was her job to set the table. She got to pick the table cloth, the dishes (out of three sets) and the decorations. We had some pretty colorful tables and hopefully she learned that the most important thing was sharing a meal.
Darla