June 21, 2010
Harriet gardening
You probably shouldn’t let your baby dig in soil with a spoon. Because while spoons are good digging implements, they’re also good for delivering items to the mouth, and though Harriet’s spoon/mouth coordination is not always right on track, it certainly was the time she ate a giant spoonful of soil… So it was kind of a milestone, times two if eating dirt is also a milestone. Is it?
My grandmother use to say “you’ll eat a peck of dirt in your life” which is, in fact, a lot of dirt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peck
There’s actually a condition where, if someone is missing certain nutrients, they’ll deliberately eat dirt — in which, it’s said, said nutrients may be found. (Wondering if this is the history of ‘mud pies’??) But most people (Harriet, I’m sure) would instinctively spit it out should a spoonful find its way to her mouth…(she said hopefully)
In any case, she looks wonderfully intent on her work!
No, she went back for seconds. Loves sand too. But she also eats dust, old cheese and shrivelled grapes, hairballs and pebbles, which means that I don’t sweep enough but also that Harriet is not so discerning.
Hmmm. Could have a future as a restaurant critic.