How Gardening Strengthened My Bond with My Family
For years, my backyard in Chicago felt like my space. It was where I planted herbs, arranged pots, and spent quiet mornings. But outside of that, our family didn’t use the yard much.
Everyone was busy with work or screens, and weekends passed by without many shared moments. I kept wishing for a simple way to bring us closer again.
One Saturday morning last spring, while the weather was finally warming up after a long winter, I looked around the yard and thought, “Why not turn this place into something for all of us?” That little spark pushed me to try something new.
So I called out from the back door, “Everyone, five minutes! We’re playing a game outside.” Of course, the first response was my husband saying, “A game? In the yard? Do we need shoes for this?” I laughed and told him, “Just come out. Trust me.”
Our First Weekend Activity
To keep things easy, I created a simple theme: “Find something in the garden that tells a story.” It didn’t matter what it was, as long as it came from looking closely at the backyard.
We all walked around the garden at our own pace. My husband stood near the big maple tree, inspecting fallen seeds on the ground. My son crouched beside the flower bed, running her fingers through the lavender. My daughter walked along the fence, searching the corners for something interesting. When we met back at the patio table, we shared what we found.
My husband held a dried maple seed and spun it between his fingers. “These always remind me of when you were a kid,” he said. “You used to call them helicopters and try to race them.”
My niece brought a small lavender sprig. She lifted it to her nose and said, “This smell makes me feel calm. I don’t know why, but I like it.”
My cousin held a piece of bark he found near the compost bin and joked, “This is a sign we need to clean up that corner.”
Nothing we found was fancy or dramatic. But the simple act of sharing made us laugh, talk, and pay attention. And because it felt so natural, we decided to do it again the next weekend.
Watching the Tradition Grow
Once it became clear everyone enjoyed the activity, we started rotating who chose the topic each week. One weekend, my niece announced that the theme was to find something that describes your mood.
My husband groaned jokingly and said, “Do I need to bring something grumpy?” We all laughed, but he ended up choosing a sturdy green leaf, saying, “I’m steady today. Not exciting, but steady.”
Another weekend, my cousin picked the theme something round, which led us to wander the yard searching for anything that fit. Someone brought a small green bud, someone else found a perfectly shaped pebble, and my dad proudly returned with a small, unripe cherry tomato from the vine.
We weren’t doing anything complicated, just looking around and sharing what we saw, yet the conversations that followed became the kind you hold onto. One small object led to a memory. One photo led to a joke. One leaf led to a conversation about plans for the week.
Turning Our Findings Into Projects
There was one Sunday in early summer when we gathered a handful of leaves, petals, and bits of bark to make a nature collage. We spread everything across the patio table and arranged the pieces into a simple picture. My daughter pressed a yellow dandelion into the center and said, “This is the sun,” which made my dad roll his eyes in a playful way and say, “That’s the happiest sun I’ve ever seen.”
Another weekend, instead of collecting objects, we took photos around the garden based on the theme patterns. Later that day, we sat inside and scrolled through our pictures. My son pointed to a picture of a tomato vine and said, “I swear this looks like it’s posing for a magazine.”
Conversations That Happened Without Forcing Them
The best part of these weekends wasn’t the game itself, it was the conversations that grew from it. The garden made the atmosphere feel relaxed, so everyone talked more openly. The setting helped break the tension that sometimes appears in everyday routines.
One Saturday, while we were all sitting under the shade, my husband quietly added, “We should’ve done something like this years ago.”
How Gardening Became My Family Bonding Tool
Before starting these weekend games, gardening was mostly my personal hobby. I watered the plants, checked the herbs, and kept things tidy. The garden mattered to me because it helped me slow down. But after months of involving my family, it also became a shared memory space.
Everyone now has a small connection to certain corners of the yard. My daughter always checks the lavender. My son inspects the tomatoes like he’s the garden inspector.
Whereas, my husband stands near the maple tree almost every weekend, quietly observing the shade.
These Moments Are So Worth
Life gets busy, and families often slip into routines where everyone is present physically but not emotionally. These weekend activities changed that for us. They became a way for us to reconnect without sitting in a circle and trying to talk on purpose.
Being outdoors made everything easier. Nature has a way of softening the edges of the day, making space for honesty and laughter.
And once these weekends became a habit, they also became something we all missed when we skipped one.
