The protective environment!

This rose bush above had many buds which blossomed one by one during one week. That fascinated me to take photographs of all buds in the garden

The following is a collection of those rose buds at different stages in different rose bushes. 

The calyx is a protective covering of sepals, which is joined together by serrated edges of sepals, which make the sepals form a shell around the growing bud.

As the petals grow and exerts pressure on the serrated ends of the sepals, they separate to give room for the bud to open to be a flower. 

It dawned on me that the calyx with sepals were needed at one stage of development of the buds. Soon the growing bud grows out of the calyx to be a flower. 

A home is such a cover of protection for children during the growing up hears. By the time children become pre-adolescent in age, they begin to move out of the protective covering of the home to become themselves. 

I wish parents would value and treasure the time till they are privileged to be protective of their children ! The best years for formative and enlarging parenting involvement is the mid childhood years. And yet I wonder if parenting receives primacy of attention as parents  consider children 'too young' to be initiated into life. 

The best period in child development to anchor children in healthy values, perspectives, beliefs, attitudes, conduct and communication is when children are between 7 and 12 years. Their cognitive processing, conscience formation, reasoning skills, behavioural adaptations, social alertness and interactive skills are at an advanced stage of formation. Their open mind, inquisitive attitude and exploratory instinct give parents an opportunity to be intimate in relationship with them to deepen their perception and interpretation.  

The children in the adolescent years are likely to break out of the 'calyx' of parenting ! 

 

It was this bud with the spittle of the Spittlebug that alerted me about the risk that a bud suffers from. The foam crated by the spittle bug is formed by the nymph, sucking plant sap and mixing it with a substance from its abdomen to create the bubbles.  The best of the bud is compromised by the nymph of Spittlebug. The flower would be subsequently reduced from its fullness of size and fragrance. 

The risk our children are exposed to during mid child are too many to list ! If they are well anchored with intimacy in communication and belonging at home, most children resist and overcome the adverse influences. 

What a delight it would be to watch a child, having reached his or her fullness in mid childhood, enters the transition of teenage years! He or she is ready for transition, protected by the earlier years of sound formation at home under the umbrella of the engaging parents!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)