We have spent the greater part of the year trying to help Noah. He had a really bad mental health year last year and things seemed to only be getting worse. We started a gratitude journal at the beginning of 2019 where every night he writes (well... I write and he tells me what to write) 3 things that went good that day (if he can't think of 3 things he can say something he is grateful for). It started with just the 3 things but as we talked every night we added: something that he he worked hard at. Then a few weeks later we added: a time he felt the spirit or the Lords blessing/influence in his day. These nightly talks and reflections helped us see that Noah feels good about his life when he works hard and especially when he produces something. So for the summer we thought a garden would be really good for him. He thinks vegetables are lame - but thought strawberries would be cool. We spent a good hour at the garden store picking out the perfect strawberry plants and the right soil and learning everything we could about growing strawberries. I wish I would have taken more pictures - this flower bed was FULL of weeds that he weeded all out, turned over the soil and mixed good soil in. Madison decided she wanted in on the action and helped him all summer. It turned into their project.
Well... It didn't turn out so good. Noah and Madison were very diligent, they watered every day and weeded and watched. In the end we never got ONE strawberry. We have bunnies and squirrels and birds that live in our backyard that would get them as soon as one started forming, we put netting and and everything - but they just chewed through the netting. We even had something burrow under the plants and kill one. I also don't think they get enough sun. They stayed diligent until about August when it was obvious that their effort would bear no fruit. It was sad and thought is was all for naught but looking back I still think it was good for Noah, for a lot of reasons. Planning, prep work, hard work, diligence and consistency, working together, and then of course... things don't always turn out the way you plan.
*In March Noah also started going to therapy. Who knows why and what really makes the difference but Noah's mental health is GREAT right now. He started 6th grade in a great place and is still holding steady. We scaled back on the therapy and have even been able to let him have a little more control over his screen time.
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