Farmer

I married a Farmer. That short sentence says so much. It says that my hubby is a work-horse and never stops moving. His work ethic is incredible and I truly believe that he is uncomfortable sitting still. It also means that he didn't get a lot of the normal parenting that the rest of us did. He got up before the sun to milk cows and he worked in the barn until almost midnight. And that started when he was a little boy. No after school or Saturday morning cartoons. No family vacations. No sympathy if he didn't feel well. The cows needed to be milked. Considering all that he turned out pretty good. He still has some carry-over quirks from his childhood years but who doesn't. There are often times when we butt heads over how to handle situations with the boys, but thankfully he always takes the time to explain his side of it. And while I may not agree, I can understand where he is coming from....after all, his skewed (it that a real word?) view came directly from his upbringing. He thinks the boys should be more mature than they are (even at age 4....which TOTALLY aggravates me), and he hates that the oldest is lazy and needs pushing. Oh but there are some wonderful things that came out of his farm-raising. Take for instance our trip home from soccer last night. A fellow farmer was ahead of us in his combine. His trailer hitch snapped, sending the trailer across the road and part way under the guard rail. Hubby never thought twice, he just pulled over and turned on the 4way flashers. My boys and I sat and watched him work for the next 15 minutes to help out that farmer. It didn't matter to him that he had just finished working a 12 hour shift or sitting through a soccer game and a few playful minutes on the playground. Nope, all that mattered was that he is a worker and when he sees someone need help, he helps. I am hoping that my young boys will learn from this, and turn out to be just like Daddy.