Let’s Applaud Innovation
I can remember my kids’ sheer excitement to open gifts on Christmas Day when they were toddlers. After the chaos of unwrapping died down, they had more fun playing with the box and wrapping paper than the gift. Lesson learned, sometimes the best things in life are the simple things.
Growing up on a farm offers just that: the simple things. When my kids’ friends come over, most of whom don’t live on a farm, what they are most envious of isn’t what’s inside our house. It’s the life living on a farm provides: eating meals together, setting expectations, chores and offering open space to explore. All of this is the perfect recipe for developing and growing imagination.
Benjamin Franklin said it best when he said, “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.”
I truly believe involving our kids on the farm launches them for success in all avenues of life.
I’ve been known to scoot my kids outside and tell them to find something to do. Actually, those were the exact words my husband said to our youngest son, Jacob, not that long ago.
So, out the door Jacob went to the cottonseed pile to play. When he came inside several hours later, he complained he had something in his ear. A trip to urgent care confirmed he indeed had cottonseed in his eardrum. After flushing it out, we realized having an inquisitive child doesn’t always work in our favor. But, many times it does.
Our oldest son, Tyler, loves to eat eggs, which are a good source of protein to fuel him as a football player. Jacob heard me complain about the rising cost of eggs and then started begging to have a chicken flock of his own, thinking he would make money off his brother’s breakfast. I replied, “No, you don’t even have a coop.”
Jacob took that answer as a challenge and mocked up blueprints using materials around the farm to build a makeshift chicken coop. Guess what? Jacob now has a flock of layers because of his innovation and willingness to push for what he wanted, despite hearing no from his mother.
It’s been said, “What you plant today, you will harvest tomorrow.” Applaud innovation from your farm kids. The world needs hardworking and inquisitive youth who can think past their Xbox and iPad.
