They’re Cute When They’re Little

Pets, they teach us so much about Ourselves… 

I am currently a Camp Counselor, with a designated chief role as Arts & Crafts instructor. Ordinarily I serve as an Art Specialist and I devise and implement the curriculum. But for Summer Camp, this is not possible. My role is to deliver a predetermined activity to ~96 children—divided into six, thirty-minute sessions, grouped roughly by age, from two to twelve. As luck would have it, today’s craft was all about chia pets. You know “pets” that don’t take much care. Almost like pet rocks, though chia are a level up in demands because they need light and water, but no real babying, and certainly no affection. 

Perhaps you remember those Cha Cha Chia commericals and the assorted terra cotta bases from which tiny seeds would sprout up like a dense carpet—everything from basic wooly sheep to Bob Ross spoof-hair-do. Completely novel to most of the children, so they did not note the inevitable variation of materials: pantyhose to contain ordinary grass seed and potting soil; tied off like a water balloon, and placed in a small mouthwash sized plastic cup. On this pouch, I was to help them hot-glue googlie eyes. (At home they are supposed to add water into the cup and wait; the grass “hair” should begin to show like a crew-cut sometime this weekend.) The camp children are still very young, and at the very mention of “pet,” they began searching for suitable names…

Although I have no say in advance as to the particular “arts” craft on schedule, I realize that I am left to spin and sell it. This week’s Camp Theme is “Going Green.” To slightly redirect their imaginations, I explain to the children that we are going to make a tiny little garden to take home, which will take the shape of this garden dude. I can see their minds fantasizing big—in the palm of their hands they see the whole vegetable patch from yesterday’s trip to the nearest farm. So I begin to ask them some leading questions, to keep everyone mentally engaged, and philosophically grounded, if you will.

I ask them: “What do we need in order to make a garden?”

“Vegetables!!!”

“Before the vegetables…”

“Flowers!!”

“But before the flowers…”

“Plants…no, seeds!”

“Before the seeds even…”

“…Water?!…”

“Yes, and also…”

“And sunlight…!!”

“Yes, and…”

“Dirt!”

“And even before this…” eyeing our porous stocking containers, hoping that the kids will recognize that we need a designated space before we can plant anything… And suddenly a hand shoots up and a child with a face all aglow waves his hand adamantly,

“I know, I know!   —a Diaper!”

(*The pets came out as expected, but it was very hard to keep a straight face after this innocent little insight.)