Childhood Favorites

For some reason, picking strawberries makes me feel like a little girl again. Growing up in western Nebraska, there wasn't much opportunity for strawberry-picking in the Spring. But in my favorite childhood storybook, Flicka, Ricka and Dicka, three triplet girls from Sweden, went strawberry picking! On every visit to the library, I would bring home at least one of the books in the series about these three little girls, and my mother must have read them to me dozens of times. I have tried desperately to get my little boys to love the companion series, Snip, Snap, Snur, about three triplet boys. Much to my disappointment, neither of the Little Nguyens share my fascination with either set of books. I have tried.....oh, how I have tried. But there were no fire trucks or excavators in Snip, Snap and Snur's world. And, to the Little Nguyens, Flicka, Ricka and Dicka are sort of out-of-date in their red patent Mary Jane's. No, there are no pink Crocs in these stories. So, rather than force my boys to read books they don't fancy, we instead read Blueberries for Sal and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, both of which have become house favorites.

Despite all of this, I woke up this morning feeling a certain rush of excitement. I knew that today I was going to get to re-live Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka Go Strawberry Picking! The First Little Nguyen had today day off from school, so we went on our annual strawberry-picking outing with Aunt Suzy, and this time Daddy got to come along for his first juicy experience! It has become somewhat of a tradition with us that, during the first week of May, we take the Little Nguyens to pick strawberries at a local farm. The first year we went, the Littlest Nguyen was old enough to just sit amidst the plants and squish strawberries in his little fingers while his older brother gathered the berries! Alas, the time has come when he actually picks (and samples!) the fruit as he is supposed to, and the ride home is far less sticky and juicy. It was sweet to watch he First Little Nguyen with his little brother today, teaching him how to grasp the strawberries so as not to smush them ("Nobody likes a smushed strawberry, Thomas!"), and how to scout out suitable berries for picking ("Red is sweet, but green we don't eat!").

The Second Little Nguyen probably doesn't remember strawberry-picking last year or even the year before that. But one thing he will remember from this year is that Daddy bought him an ice cream cone! The strawberry farm explored its commercial side with the addition of a silver airstream trailer and a concession stand!

Today had a charm not unlike my favorite childhood story. Nothing beats the taste of a freshly-picked, juicy, warm strawberry! And even though I can't stand in the kitchen with Mother and show her my basket of strawberries, as Flicka, Ricka and Dicka did, I can smile at the thought of my two little boys having fun doing something so charmingly simple.