“Mommy! Look how beautiful these are!”
We’re at a local greenhouse searching for flowers to plant on Earth Day. There are rows of beautiful, fragrant flowers. You can hear the light pitter-patter of the morning rain on the plastic roof.
Our daughter asks to pull the wagon that’s starting to fill up with flowers.
I try to talk to her briefly about Earth Day and why it’s important. She gets the basic idea.
“It’s a day to celebrate our Earth.” she tells me. “That’s right. And it’s important to take care of our Earth because it helps everyone. The Earth needs our help to keep the plants and rivers and oceans clean and healthy.”
“And all the animals!” she adds.
I don’t know if she quite grasps the weight of being environmentally conscious. We don’t go into detail about the political side of things. But I’m glad she’s learning the basics of how to be a good person to the Earth from a young age.
The best way to change the world and make it cleaner for future generations is to teach our children how to care for the Earth.
Dan Hauk 