“A Dirty Pair of Shoes and a Happy Little Farmer”

"The Case of the Muddy Shoes: A Sweet Potato Adventure”

“One proud little farmer on the way home.”

Yesterday, I picked up my daughter from after-school class, and I was surprised—her shoes looked like they’d been through a mud wrestling match! 

I ask her, “What happened to your shoes!?” 

Turns out, the kids got to dig, plant, and get totally messy in the garden. Her shoes might be a disaster zone, but her smile says it all—she had a blast! I guess sometimes getting dirty is part of the fun. She looked at me, smiling proudly, and said:

“We planted sweet potatoes at school today!”

Ahhh—that explains it! 😂

Apparently, they had a lesson at school today where the kids planted sweet potato seedlings (or “satsumaimo” in Japanese).

 They all went out to the school garden or field and got totally into it—digging in the dirt, planting, working together.

And clearly… her shoes had the full farming experience too.

At first, I was mentally calculating whether these shoes were even salvageable in the washing machine. But then I saw how happy she was—grinning from ear to ear—and honestly, the muddy shoes didn’t seem to matter anymore.

“Sweet potatoes planted. Mission complete.”

I asked, “Did you have fun?”

She beamed and said, “Yes! It was soooo fun! We’re going to dig them up in the fall!”

Dirty shoes aside, I realized this was one of those moments that only come in childhood—getting your hands (and feet!) dirty, learning from nature, and making memories along the way.

“Proof she worked hard and had fun.”

Sure, the shoes may need some serious scrubbing…

But it was full of smiles, learning, and a little bit of sweet potato magic. 🍠✨