What happens when you leave the country for the city and your child wants the farm life instead?
I was not a venti cinnamon dolce with whipped cream kind of girl growing up, but rather a cowboy boot wearing tomboy. I grew up on a farm with primarily horses which was one of my father’s major goals in life. My parents owned a single horse farm until they had saved enough money to build a bigger farm farther out in the country. While my dad loved having a horse farm out in the country, it was not a big desire for everyone else in the family including me. While the rest of the world enjoyed their weekends, we cleaned out stalls and often times money was spent on horses as well as upkeep which made finances extremely tight. My dad worked a full time job in addition to the farm where at times would have upwards to five of our horses and plus others owned by neighbors there as well.
Although this lifestyle was great for my dad and for most of the people who lived countryside I grew up in, that was not what I had pictured for myself in life. I appreciated the work ethic that was installed in me from experiences on the farm and I have great respect for farmers. However, I wanted something different, but not in a view point that screamed disrespectful. My dad had passed away by the time I was ready to move out of the house and I elected to reside near a major city. I left my cowboy boots behind and traded in shoveling horse stalls for a career. I finally got to take a vacation, go to a grocery store that had more than eight aisles and many other things that people like my husband took for granted. For the first time in my life, I had found the lifestyle that I had aimed to achieve for.
During a field trip more than two years ago, my daughters discovered farming which this adventure had lead to one of the kids milking a cow. I thought my suburban children would hate it, but instead a flame had ignited in them. My middle daughter talks about owning a farm when she grows up where she will have many types of animals and her future to be determined husband will need to farm the land. This kid rather have goats and chickens compared to the tuxedo cat that we have in our house. Both girls love go to local farm markets that have petting zoos and playgrounds made of reused equipment pieces. This is the environment that they enjoy which is very much the atmosphere that their grandfather that they never met longed for.
The love of the farming life may have skipped me, but the same joy fills a little bit of my daughters’ hearts. We are lucky to have many farms that open up to visitors and offer opportunities for hands on learning. Our girls are young and may change their minds many times before they graduate high school, but its nice that they can get their fill of farms nearby. At the end of the day, the farm shaped who I am and I am glad to share a little bit with my girls without having to do the dirty work!
