Being a Farm Life Parent of Small Children

There are countless joys being a farm life parent of small children.  It is a delight to watch them bop along in the garden.  They want to contribute to the family.   Sometimes the wires cross though, and perceived helpfulness is the little one plucking all of the green tomatoes off the plant and leaving them proudly in a pile for you in the garden. 

 

It is fun seeing them want to play in the pile of green beans on your living room floor as you snap.  They pluck one from the bucket and eat it raw, or hand it to you so you can snap the ends before they eat it.  A short while later you walk through your house and say, “Why are their half chewed green beans scattered throughout my house boys?”  

And then there is the fun watching them hold their little hands out while waiting for little pigs to come over and sniff their hands, just as unsure as the boys may be.  I love being able to provide this kind of life and outdoor wonder for them.  I know Matt feels the same as well because it is similar to his upbringing. 

We also experience the same challenges of every parent.  One challenge in particular stops all forms of productivity; illness.  Your babies feel miserable, you feel bad for them, and when those little eyes look up at you, and they beg you to “Hold me Mommy” in their puny little voice, I feel the maternal obligation to put all else on hold, be it my paid job, my farm responsibilities, my volunteer responsibilities, and even my other family responsibilities to hold and comfort them the best I can.  Case in point, last weekend.  High fever and belly aches for FIVE days straight.  Five long days!  Work; done during naps and late at night.  Farm blog; not even completed.  Volunteer responsibilities; put on hold.  My mom was kind enough to come pick the garden squash so I didn’t have baseball bat zucchini (and a few zinnias to cheer us up). 

Instead I read books (lots of them), sang songs, counted numbers, assembled puzzles, played cars, played kitchen, and held little boys so they could fall asleep.  I certainly wouldn’t change a thing about my responsibilities as a parent.  

Mmmm, oven roasted veggies and pork chops

As for that blog I promised about the wonderful pork chop dinner I made last week based on findings from the article posted; I won’t stop cooking anytime soon, so you can expect more posts in the future with tasty tested recipes in our kitchen.

Oh, by the way, guess who started running a fever today?.