A weed is in the eyes of the beholder

Each spring John sprays our lawn to get rid of those nasty, pesty dandelions. When we take our walks we can always spot the homeowners who, like us, have treated their lawns because there is not a yellow puff to be spotted anywhere.
But in the eyes of a Preschooler those yellow plants are anything but annoyances in fact, they are downright beautiful. Yesterday my classes went for a walk to a lawn that has not been treated and we took our time to study these so called weeds. We looked at the hollow stems, checked out the huge roots, talked about using the leaves for a salad, and blew the white seeds all over the place while making our private wishes. Finally we all picked three or four flowers to bring back to our classroom for a painting project. Except for dandelions it is not really acceptable to pick a lovely bouquet of flowers from someone's yard. No one ever minds if you pick their dandelions though!
We used the yellow flowers to print with colorful paint and we created some very unique beautiful artwork. Who knew that the pesty weed we call a dandelion could provide such fun for a four year old.
And what mom out there doesn't fondly recall the many bouquets of dandelions received on those long ago summer days? I always put them into a pretty vase while the girls proudly looked on. I hope that isn't something else our children lose in this day and age because of the spraying. Perhaps dandelions will be too hard for them to find!
Afterthought: I think my girls used to say something to the effect of, " A mama had a baby and its head popped off," while they popped the yellow flower off the dandelion. HA! In this day and age a child would get into big trouble for saying such a thing...