My Crab Plant

I thought motherhood came with a green thumb.  Apparently, it does not.  The therapeutic remedies of soothing one's soul with soil never appealed to me until I became pregnant.  Call it nesting.  I have tried to nurture many a plant since this agricultural awakening... and I am sad to say that I have failed nearly all of my green friends.  I had a beautiful front "yard" with every color pansy you can think of for about 2 weeks until they realized that I was too busy to water them and slowly but surely left me to play in someone else's garden... someone without a newborn or postpartum hormones telling them to grow everything but water nothing.  I do, however, have one jewel to brag about in this blog.  

For my first Mother's Day this year, my mom brought me a stick from her house.  I thought for sure she'd really lost it... "Thanks, mom....???"  Until, she explained, the "stick" was the offspring of my Minkie's infamous "Shrimp Plant."  Now, I say infamous because everyone seems to have noticed this plant except for me.  Like I said, prior to pregnancy I could have cared less about plants, and certainly never knew the names of all the many plants my grandmother had.  Although now when I think back to her cozy apartment and all the time I spent sitting and talking with her, I realize now that it was so peaceful because of all of her perfectly pruned and polished plants.  Her plants were happy plants.  I was obviously touched that my mother thought to share such a special part of Minkie's garden with me... but my first thought truly was, "Oh.  My.  I am going to kill this plant, and it will be the saddest plant failure yet!"  I mean, it came with specific instructions that had to be googled.  I couldn't even grasp the concept of watering... I was doomed.  But nonetheless I sought to give it my best just as I always had with the others.  

Luckily, all this new green friend really demanded of me was that I place it in a clear container filled with water, in a sunny spot in my house.  I thought, "I can handle that!"  So, I took my best water glass ;) and placed it in the center of my dining room table and went about my new mommy life.  A few weeks passed, and I started to see roots grow (when I had time to actually observe the glass) and noticed that a little leaf sprout had sprung!  I was amazed and proud (I need more "do nothing" plants!)  

Over the next several weeks and months my little shrimp plant has made me such a proud plant mommy.  She has graduated from the table in the water glass and is now thriving on my front porch in her second pot.  I proudly send my mom pictures on her phone of her progress... a picture of Zaiya, then a few days later, a picture of my happy plant!  My Uncle Fred came to visit me a couple weeks ago and I think I was just as proud to show him my shrimp plant as I was to show him my six month old!  ;)  He came onto the front deck, smiled and told me, "Yep, that's about where Minkie had hers... right outside the door."  This just re-iterated to me that it is my Minkie's spirit that is alive in this plant... so I am pretty sure that this may be the plant to turn my thumb green, finally.

I simply have no doubt that this plant is surviving only because my Minkie wanted a front row seat to the madness that my life has become!  I know she would have loved Zaiya and my hope is that she is watching him from my front porch and giggling with us as we giggle with him.  

I only have one problem with this plant.  I can't wrap my head around why it is called a "shrimp plant."  Maybe because nothing makes me think of Minkie more than eating crabs.  For as long as I can remember until my grandparents were no longer able, our family would get together on the 4th of July and eat the best crabs you could ever eat!  We had shrimp as well, but it was the crabs that brought out the true magic for our family.  Those memories are some of the greatest of my life.  I miss those times and I truly wish that we still kept that tradition alive today.  

My favorite picture of my Minkie is of her with a beer in one hand and a crab in the other... on her 90th birthday!  So I have decided that this amazing new green friend of mine is officially my "Crab Plant" and I am so proud of her and cannot wait to see where she will grow from here!

I miss you, Minkie.  Thank you for taking such good care of my new little green friend, and I think it is a perfect way for you to keep an eye on me ;).  I hope you don't mind her new name!