14/05/2026
4 weeks ago, Isabelle was sent home with a pot of dirt with a seed planted in it for "home learning" - the brief was simple... 4 weeks to nurture a mystery seed, and return it to school today for the garden show.
It became clear pretty quickly that Isabelle may not have inherited her grandparents green fingers, though further investigation at the 2 week mark unearthed a shrivelled looking brown seed, that had more chance of growing legs than growing into a beautiful flower.
Yesterday, seeing the sadness in my daughter's face at the prospect of taking a pot of dirt back to school, I offered a plan B: paper flowers. I went through a phase of paper rose making a few years ago, and, whilst impressive looking, they are actually very easy to make. Obviously this meant me massively underestimating how long it would take to complete this plan!
With the help of a 5 year old, armed with a glue gun and a pair of scissors, construction continued into the early evening and right up until bedtime. However, I think you will agree, it was absolutely worth it!
A very happy 5 year old bounced into school this morning with a pot of beautifully home "grown" roses. Win.
