#fallcleanup

Fall Chores

I felt very accomplished this morning. I trimmed our grapes down, the hydrangea, the roses. Got it all cleaned up. Raked most the leaves into a pile for the kids to play in after school, mowed the yard, put away outside chairs and a table, swept patios, straightened up the shed. Ah, so beautiful.....for about ten minutes. I knew the rain was coming, hence the push to get the clean up done, but I really thought I'd get to enjoy a fresh yard for a good half a day at least. The winds came, the rain came, and now my patios and yard are once again covered with all the leaves. All of them. It was essentially a blizzard of leaves that took back what they had claimed for their own. My yard. And so the battle of fall clean up has begun and will continue every week until....spring? Well it is the PNW, so, yeah spring sounds about right.

With autumn in full swing, I've had a chance to write down the list of added chores to keep the animals dry and happy and to keep us warm and happy. Checking pig houses, fresh straw in the coop, extra rounds on the pigs every day, keeping mud down by the chickens, and the normal feed and water schedule for all animals, keeping the house stocked with fire wood, and keeping a fire going throughout the day. Realistically, I could take care of all the extra chores in just a couple of extra minutes a day. However, we're a family. As part of our family, our kids are expected to help, to have their own chores, to take part of the load. Will this take longer? Will this sometimes make more work for me and for my husband? Will this cause problems where there were none? Will this result in some sweet child of mine crashing to the ground and getting covered in mud in their school clothes because they forgot to do their chore before they changed? Absolutely, to all of it. And I love it. I'd love to say I never get frustrated and it's all just a beautiful learning experience for my little loves as they grow to be productive and amazing full grown humans. That would be a huge lie. A kid drops a dozen eggs on the way back from the coop and I may or may not lose my mind. We do believe it is so important to give them responsibility on our farm, to give them a sense of pride when they complete their work. We want them to understand that it is a unit, not mommy and daddy vs. the kids. That when we all work together, the work goes quicker and that frees the parents up to do more fun things with the kids. That they have chores, that we have chores, that we are all in this crazy Homestead Life together. And maybe through working and learning together here, we can teach them a better way of living or at least an appreciation for where food comes from and all of the hard work that goes into it. That working hard always pays off, whether you succeed or not, you'll always learn something. That you are never too old to learn something new. That sometimes you fail, but you never quit. That you have to be tough and strong sometimes, even when it's hard. That change is inevitable and how to gracefully roll with it. All these things and so much more we hope to teach them here. And crazy or not, I believe that all starts with being a part of the chores; fall, winter, spring and summer.

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