Lessons Mommy and Daddy learned picking strawberries with 2.5 year old daughter:
1. Dress daughter in clothes that are free to be stained. Would recommend buying strawberry-picking-outfit just for this occasion. A garbage bag with holes cut out would suffice. New white shirt and shoes? Not a good idea.
2. Explain to daughter the difference in "picking" and "squishing." Picking = to pull gently from the crown of the berry, removing it from the stem. Squishing = wrapping four small fingers (plus one small thumb) around a very large berry and yanking,, tugging, pulling, and squeezing on it until every molecule of juice and pulp from the berry has "squished" between the fingers in the effort to remove it from the stem.
Explain to daughter that squished strawberries, though similar in taste to the firm variety, do not make for an aesthetically pleasing strawberry shortcake.
3. Bring a color chart for daughter. Red = ripe; pick it. Green = unripe; let it be. Red = yes. Green = no.Explain to checkout lady why half of bucket is full of unripe strawberries.
4. Praise daughter for her frugality, but dissuade her from retreiving and eating the rotten berries on the ground.
5. Pick in an remote area, lest daughter try and "help" the other customers with their picking. When this fails, find another remote area. And another. And another. Through clenched teeth thank Jesus that daughter is sociable, outgoing, and apt to share.
