The Seeds Of Respect
Plant It And Watch It Grow

Nuff, an eight-year-old boy who is in second grade, was walking home from school one day when the Big Bully of the neighborhood, Anthony, came to a stop right in front of him on the sidewalk outside of Mr. Curmudgeon’s house. Mr. Curmudgeon was an old man whose wife had passed away a couple of years earlier. He didn’t talk much to his neighbors anymore and was always cranky and scary to the kids in the neighborhood. One thing the old man did though was try to instill the seeds of respect in the neighborhood kids. If Nuff had to be stopped anywhere, this was not the place. He was probably more afraid of Mr. Curmudgeon than the Big Bully.

As for Mr. Curmudgeon the only thing he enjoyed anymore was tending to his garden. His garden had a small pond and lots of flowers. His favorite flowers were his prize winning roses, while his late wife’s favorite flowers were the edelweiss; they reminded her of her homeland of Switzerland.

Bullying Isn’t Nice

We all know that bullying isn’t nice, and having been stopped by the Big Bully, Nuff was shaking in his boots; well not really in boots, he was wearing his black gym shoes. The Big Bully told Nuff that he wouldn’t let him pass on the sidewalk until he ran through Mr. Curmudgeon’s flower garden and stepped on a bunch of his flowers. Nuff looked all around and didn’t see the old man or anyone else outside in the neighborhood. Fearing for his life, he decided to do what the Big Bully told him to do. Running through the garden Nuff ran over and trampled on all the beautiful flowers Mr. Curmudgeon had so delicately planted.

As Nuff was running around the pond, up popped Mr. Curmudgeon from his knees. He had been working in his garden and neither the Big Bully nor Nuff had seen him. He grabbed Nuff by the collar and as he did the Big Bully ran off as fast as he could. Looking down at Nuff Mr. Curmudgeon said, “Come on you little runt. I’m taking you home to your mamma and she’s going to whoop your butt for stomping my flowers.”

Terrified that he was going to be spanked and punished by his mom, Nuff was surprised when she called him downstairs after she had finished talking to Mr. Curmudgeon. Nuff’s mom, in a flash of brilliance, figured she could kill two birds with one stone. Mr. Curmudgeon would have some much needed company in the form of her little mischievous son, while Nuff would make amends for trampling all the flowers in their neighbor’s garden. Nuff’s mom explained to him that he would have to help Mr. Curmudgeon plant seeds every day after school, hopefully learn to respect things, and on weekends until he had replanted all the flowers that he had ruined when he ran through his garden.

You see, Nuff’s mom was a “BFF” with Mr. Curmudgeon’s wife before she passed away. She often went over to their house and sat with her on the porch drinking tea while Mr. Curmudgeon worked in their garden. She knew them well and they were like grandparents to Nuff when he was just a little baby. Unfortunately, after his wife passed away, Mr. Curmudgeon became somewhat withdrawn. Nuff’s mom took it upon herself to check-in on him from time-to-time to make sure he was okay.

Mr. Curmudgeon, of course, wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of having some “little runt” help him in his flower garden, but he knew his wife would be upset with him if he did not listened to Nuff’s mom. He begrudgingly agreed and since today was Friday, Nuff’s first day working with Mr. Curmudgeon would be Saturday. So as he turned to leave Mr. Curmudgeon grumbled to Nuff’s mom, “Tell the little runt to be at my door by 7am sharp tomorrow morning!”

Planting Seeds Of Respect

Saturday morning came along and Nuff was up at the crack of dawn. He was feeling pretty nervous while he ate breakfast with his mom at the table, but she reassured him that Mr. Curmudgeon was a really nice old man and liked Nuff a lot. She explained to Nuff that Mr. Curmudgeon had become lonely when his wife passed away and that he missed his wife. She also explained that he got sick after he lost his wife and those two things had made him cranky and unfriendly to people in the neighborhood.

After they finished breakfast Nuff’s mom walked him over to Mr. Curmudgeon’s house and they found him kneeling down and already working in his flower beds. Looking up he said, “It’s about time you got here you little runt. The day is half over.” Nuff’s eyes bulged out of his head and he grabbed his mom’s hand as tight as he could. She told Nuff not to worry and that she would come back at lunchtime with some sandwiches for him and Mr. Curmudgeon.

Nuff watched his mom walk down the sidewalk as Mr. Curmudgeon told him to pickup the shovel on the ground and follow him. They arrived to Mr. Curmudgeon’s favorite flowers… Roses. As Nuff was working, Mr. Curmudgeon started talking about roses and why they were his favorite flowers. He told Nuff how to take care of them, how to carefully trim them, and of course, watch out for the thorns. At first, Nuff reluctantly did as he was told, but as the day went on he really started to appreciate what it took to tend to the flowers and the garden.

The morning went by much faster than Nuff thought it would and before he knew it, his mom showed up with some sandwiches for lunch. Mr. Curmudgeon went from a soft, poetic caretaker of flowers back to his old cranky self and started complaining about the sandwiches. Nuff’s mom just smiled at him with a tender look.

After lunch, Mr. Curmudgeon took Nuff to a different section of the garden and they started working on the Edelweiss flowers – his late wife’s favorites. As Nuff was working, Mr. Curmudgeon started telling stories about his wife and why she liked the edelweiss so much. Nuff could feel the warmth of his words as Mr. Curmudgeon remembered his beautiful wife.

Before long, it was late afternoon and Nuff was starting to think that Mr. Curmudgeon wasn’t such a scary old man. That is until Mr. Curmudgeon said, “That’s good enough for today ya little runt. I can’t believe it took you all day just to work on two tiny spots of the garden. Maybe tomorrow you can use those tender hands of yours and actually get some work done. Kids now a days, always playing on your electronic do-hickeys and not doing any work!” He went on for several minutes talking about how it was when he was a kid and they had to work all day.

In fact, as he walked Nuff home, Mr. Curmudgeon kept telling Nuff how hard kids worked back in the day and how they respected their elders instead of running around and messing things up. When they got to Nuff’s house, Mr. Curmudgeon said, “Be at my house at 7 am sharp tomorrow Little Runt! We’ve still got plenty of your mess to cleanup!”

The following day, Nuff got to Mr. Curmudgeon’s house and was put to work right away on some Snapdragons. Mr. Curmudgeon told Nuff how snapdragons are often misunderstood because they are beautiful intensely colored flowers that sound mean and scary. They’re called snapdragons because the seed’s pods looks “like a snout” and the opening of the flowers are tightly shut requiring bigger, stronger bumblebees (instead of honeybees) to open and pollinate. Get past that tough opening though and spread the pollination to get beautiful flowers that bloom profusely year after year! Mr. Curmudgeon went on to tell Nuff all about how to care for snapdragons and Nuff’s appreciation for garden flowers grew even more.

After lunch, Nuff started to work on Petunias, which Nuff learned were annuals, meaning they have to be replanted every year (or if someone stomps all over them – YIKES!) Mr. Curmudgeon told Nuff that petunias can either mean anger and resentment or to some people, they can mean not losing hope and spending time with someone whose company you find peaceful and soothing. He went on to tell stories about how his petunias always calmed him down and soothed his temper. Nuff didn’t really remember Mrs. Curmudgeon that well, he was still quite young when she passed. Listening to Mr. Curmudgeon talk about her made Nuff wish he could have known her a bit more as she sounded like a really nice lady.

Before he knew it, it was time to go home. Nuff had a lot to think about after listening to Mr. Curmudgeon talk that day. He always thought Mr. Curmudgeon was a big scary old man and now he was starting to see another side of the rough old geezer.

The next few days, after finishing his homework, Nuff went over to work with Mr. Curmudgeon after school. Mr. Curmudgeon had Nuff work on Elderberries, Carnations, and Tulips. As always Mr. Curmudgeon was rough at first, complaining about one thing or another and calling Nuff a little runt, but then he would soften up when he talked about the flowers. Even when he was rough, he was trying to sow the seeds of respect in his helper.

Nuff learned how elderberries could be used to make the best pies and jams. You can also make an elderberry juice out of it, but you have to know how to do it otherwise you can get sick. Mr. Curmudgeon said it was all about really getting to know and respect the berry.

Mr. Curmudgeon couldn’t stop talking about Mrs. Curmudgeon when they started working on carnations. He said he loved cutting carnations and putting them in a vase for his wife, because they conveyed admiration and deep love and affection. Mrs. Curmudgeon would always smile brightly when he gave her the flowers. That evening, Mr. Curmudgeon cut a few carnations for Nuff to take home to his mom. And guess what? She smiled brightly and gave Nuff a big ol‘ hug when he gave her the flowers! It made Nuff feel all warm and gooey inside. Planting seeds gave Nuff a new level of respect for his old neighbor.

“It’s TULIPS, not TWO LIPS ya Little Runt!” said Mr. Curmudgeon to Nuff. Nuff thought about the cartoons he saw where the animated tulip flower went around kissing things with its “two lips” and started giggling. “What are you laughing at you little runt? Be careful with that flower! Don’t step on that stem! Watch what you’re doing!!! Respect my authority!”

By now, Nuff had kinda gotten use to the rough exterior of Mr. Curmudgeon. He knew he just had to put up with it for a bit, until Mr. Curmudgeon started talking about the flowers and telling stories, and after that the old guy would be a pushover.

Later that week, during recess at school, Nuff saw some flowers and started thinking about going to Mr. Curmudgeon’s after school. Suddenly, the Big Bully that made Nuff trample all over Mr. Curmudgeon’s flowers appeared! “Hey you wimp!” he said. Give me your Adventures of Ethnos Yehoti game card. I’m rounding out my collection and you got the card I need, so hand it over before I get mad! And you wouldn’t like me when I’m mad!” Nuff almost peed in his pants and gave the Big Bully his favorite cards.

Later that day, as Nuff was walking home from school, Mr. Curmudgeon noticed that the little runt just wasn’t his usual self. After some poking and prodding, “What’s got you so down ya little runt?” Nuff explained to Mr. Curmudgeon how a bully at school took his favorite game cards from him. The old man said to him that “Some people just have no respect for other people’s things,” as he winked at Nuff to acknowledge his running through the garden. After talking they both got back to work.

As Nuff was fixing flowers closest to the sidewalk the Big Bully approached him from behind and started picking on him. On his knees a terrified Nuff looked up and had no idea what to do. As the Big Bully continued to pick on Nuff and wave his Yehoti game card in his face, out of nowhere a large shadow came over them; it was Mr. Curmudgeon standing right behind the Big Bully. Mr. Curmudgeon told “Anthony” that he knew who he was and that he used to work with his farther, that they went back a long way and were old friends. In his deep and gnarly old cranky voice Mr. Curmudgeon told the Big Bully that unless he wanted to be dragged by the ear back to his father he better give back the game card he took from Nuff, and to stop bothering him at school too!

In the blink of an eye the Big Bully dropped Nuff’s game card and apologized for taking it, then he dashed off as fast as he could. Mr. Curmudgeon looked down at the card and said somewhat sarcastically, “Nice card Little Runt. Get back to work,” as he again winked at his favorite little runt.

Seeds Of Respect Planted

A curious look came over Nuff as he got back to working on the flowers. Before the day was done Nuff had finally finished helping Mr. Curmudgeon repair all the damaged he had done to the flowerbeds and cleaned up all the weeds. The seeds of respect had been planted. The two of them sat on the porch and Mr. Curmudgeon poured them both some lemonade to drink, then he showed Nuff some old Adventures of Ethnos cards in mint condition that he had in a collection; cards that Nuff had never seen before. Before Nuff could say anything, Mr. Curmudgeon picked out a card and gave it to him. “If you tell anyone where you got this you’ll be back in my garden picking out more weeds ya got it ya little runt?!?” said Mr. Curmudgeon.

Speechless, Nuff could only nod his head yes as he had a newfound respect for his old cranky neighbor. Nuff learned that Mr. Curmudgeon was a fairly likeable guy, once you got over the scary part. On top of all that not only did Mr. Curmudgeon get Nuff’s card back from the bully, he also gave him a special card none of his other friends had!

As he lay in bed that evening Nuff’s dad asked him what he had learned while working with Mr. Curmudgeon to repair his garden. Nuff could hardly contain his excitement as he explained to his dad how Mr. Curmudgeon had won numerous contests with his prized Roses, and how Edelweiss flowers were his wife’s favorites. He continued telling his dad stories about the Snapdragons, Petunias, Elderberries, and Carnations he had to replant; and finished by telling him about the dozens of different colored Tulips Mr. Curmudgeon had around his pond. The seeds had been planted and respect had been learned. With his story complete, he rested on his pillow and proclaimed, “You know what Dad, it’s important to R-E-S-P-E-C-T people’s property,” Nuff said.

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Reviews

“Poor Nuff was bullied into stomping on an old man’s flower gardens. The old man caught him and told his parents.. For punishment he had to go replant flowers and in the process learned that the old grumpy man was not as mean as everyone though. Nice story!: — JennB

“The Seeds of Respect is a great little book, teaching kiddos the importance of having respect for other people and their things. Many times bullies are mean to others and make the child do things they aren’t happy with. This little book shows a bully and a good kid who is influenced by the bully to do wrong. However, mom takes over and teaches Nuff that he needs to have respect for other’s and after working to replant the flower bed he trampled, he learns that their neighbor isn’t a bad person after all. Today, many children aren’t taught respect and that is sad because the child grows to be an adult with the same problem.” — Maria

“Another book about Nuff and the lessons he learns. Nuff was walking home from school when he ran into the local bully. The bully wouldn’t let Nuff pass until he stomped on the meanest man in the neighborhood, flowers. What was Nuff to do? Get beat up or stomp on the flowers. Follow Nuff and see what his choice is. Nuff learns a valuable lesson and so does the bully.” — Susan Reynolds