"You can't play outside until you get all of your work done," I say to my boys most days. Do your homework. Clean your rooms. Pick up your dirty socks. But what about the gardener?



With spring chugging along and with all of the dividing, weeding, planting, pruning and edging that needs to be done in the garden, my "work" gives me guilt. I should vacuum and dust—but the sun is out and the birds are singing. I should post more blogs and finish that article—but it's 65 degrees and the daffodils are starting to fade today.

"You can't play outside until you get all of your work done," I say to myself, looking out the window longingly. And then, just like my kids, I ignore my inner Mommy and go out and play anyway.

So as gardeners, you need to decide if gardening is "playing," a "hobby," or "working." I suppose if you decide it is "working" then you don't get any guilt. Working in the garden when the dishes sit in the sink is just prioritizing, right? If gardening is playing—which, come on and admit it, it is—well, you are a slacker.

Either way, when it is 65 degrees and sunny, that laundry probably will stay dirty.

—Michelle Byrne Walsh