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Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

Hubby and the boys blessed me with some gorgeous flowers for Mother’s Day. Love them! They came via FedEx, so I had to unpack them and get them all arranged. This was fun – I’m easily amused. One of the directions was to peel two or three petals off of each rose as the tough protective petals were left on the buds for shipping. So, I peeled.

pile of rose petals on table

This was of course a great opportunity for some learning so I called The Manager and Captain Earthquake (the older boys were not home at the time) and cupped the petals in my hand to show them. First we inhaled deeply. Okay, well I did and then the Captain tried it and when he approved, then The Manager deigned to dip his nose my way. He’s, uhhh, not one to try new things.

The boys each picked out a few petals and enjoyed touching and pinching them, something they’re normally told not to do. Then The Manager took off for some computer time, but the Captain decided it would be fun to float the petals in some water. Totally his idea!

rose petals floating in water

He really enjoyed putting the petals into the water. Then we noticed that some were attracted to the side of the bowl (static charge of some sort?) while others floated in the middle. The Captain experimented with dunking the petals underwater, pushing on some lightly and exclaiming over how much weight a rose petal can carry.

I couldn’t resist getting out some tacky glue and a few fuzzy balls to try my hand at making something. Here’s my first attempt at a butterfly.

dragonfly made from rose petals and pipe cleaner

Then I thought these pink petals looked like a dragonfly.

butterfly made from rose petals and pipe cleaner

‘Nother butterfly attempt.

peach and yellow flower made from rose petals and pom pom

This flower was my favorite of the 4 things I tried. What do you think?

A day after my crafty little experiment all the petals are wilting. Bummer. I’m thinking about drying a few petals and trying again in a few days. If I actually remember to do it, I’ll let you know.

pom pom floating in water with rose petals

Looks like a certain someone did a little extra experimenting when I was away from the table.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who want to play with rose petals.