Keep Your Kids Busy With Apricots, Hammers and Books

Ah. Summer is here. Well, not really until June 21, but the days are getting longer and, more importantly, the stone fruits are showing up at the Farmers’ Market. It’s time to cut off our jeans and sign our kids up for swim lessons.

Last Friday was one of those perfect days to spend an evening at our local Farmers’ Market here in Eagle Rock. I know, I’ve heard some of you say, “it’s not as good as the ______ market” or “the prices are too high” or “it’s so small.” I know, I know, but I have to say that little market has grown on me over the years.

I’m not sure if it has gotten better or if I have just gotten used to it, but week after week we walk through the Farmers' Market, listen to the music and find some sort of treasure. This week, it was the most beautiful head of Romaine I had ever seen for only $1.50. That’s a better deal than Super King.

My kids and their gang of friends were doing their Oliver Twist impersonation, trying to persuade the man selling fresh roasted peanuts for yet another fistful of samples to stuff their pockets with.

Another market treasure is the perfectly kid-sized apricots. My husband, Mr. Fancy, tells us how it used to be his responsibility to pick the apricots from his mother’s backyard trees and sell them every summer. Our kids now believe we somehow owe our good fortune to the annual apricot harvest.

Mr. Fancy explains that if you let the apricot pit dry you can then crack it open and eat the little seed inside. Now we have a line of pits on the countertop waiting to be taken outside and smashed open with a hammer. 

After a quick google search, however, I learn that apricot pits have a bit of cyanide in them that can be fatal if consumed in large doses. It’s probably not any worse than NutraSweet, but then again, I don’t let my kids eat that either. Maybe we’ll just hammer the pits and toss them into the green bin.

This childhood apricot seed eating might explain why Mr. Fancy, who is one of the smartest fellows I know, can’t seem to match socks when I ask him to help me with laundry. 

Recently, he put all the socks turned inside out into our son’s drawer, and the ones with a hole in the toe in my drawer. All my daughter’s socks ended up in the trash and I found whatever was left in Mr. Fancy’s drawer. What exactly does cyanide do in small doses?

So, yes, we’ll just hammer the pits and toss them. (We can’t give up hammering because it has become one of our kids’ favorite hobbies.) I encourage it because it builds hand-eye coordination and is cheap. Who knows, it may even lead to actual artisanship.

The kids hammer golf tees into Styrofoam, nails into timber, and after putting on their safety goggles, they hammer rocks, hoping to find crystals inside. Lately, they have been using a hammer and chisel to sculpt wine corks into animals. Anything to keep them out of the kitchen for a while.

Speaking of artisans, this Sunday, June 12, come out to support 90041 HANDMADE, An Artisan Market Supporting Local Handmade Goods. You will find all sorts of jewelry, clothing and cards— even pies—made in good ol’ Eagle Rock. The market will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Colorado Boulevard and Mount Helena. Find out more on facebook.

To add a little balance to the lives of my hammering kids, today, Friday, June 10, we will be attending the Family Reading Night and Art Walk from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Bring a pillow and blanket for a cozy evening of books and art sponsored by the school’s PTA. We hear there will be some science fiction, mysteries, fairy tales and, best of all, hot chocolate. It all happens on the school’s west lawn.

That’s just a hop, skip and a jump from the Farmers’ market. I think I’ll grab some apricots and fresh roasted peanuts and let someone else read me a bedtime story for a change. I might even splurge and buy some empanadas. I hear they’re fantastic!