A friend asked me what my Mother’s Day plans were. I replied with a puzzling look, “Honestly, it’s day-by-day here.”
With rye ready to be chopped and rain on the horizon, my life is really “wait and see.” I think many of you can relate.
We finished planting corn a week ago and we were able to keep the planter rolling for seven days in a row to finish. This rarely happens as Mother Nature forces us to push the pause button, that or something breaks. This year we kept the planter wheels rolling, although my husband doesn’t celebrate, as he is well aware the last time we were in this shape, was in 2012, the year of the drought.
As I write, I look outside to our rye field. It has begun to head out and needs to be chopped, but the freshly planted crops need rain. Farmers are always in limbo; so are farm wives.
So, what does my Mother’s Day plans look like? That I don’t know. I nonchalantly advised my kids that their mama likes foot rubs, quiet time to drink a glass of wine in the tub, help with cleaning the garage, or for peats sake, just get along. They smiled and told me they would try to do the latter.
I don’t know about that. What I do know about is that being a farm mom is tough. The days are constant starts and stops of cooking, doing farm bookwork, vaccinating cattle, writing stories for my day job, and going on a parts run and more. The job isn’t for the faint of hearts, but honestly it is hands down the best job out there.
No, I won’t wake up to breakfast in bed or store bought flowers this Sunday and I’m okay with that. The daily gift I receive from my children brings immeasurable satisfaction to my heart. I can look outside my farmhouse window here on our family dairy farm and watch all three of my kids working side-by-side with two older generations. This Sunday my kids probably won’t be doting on their mama, but they’ll either be feeding heifers and calves, vaccinating dry cows or hauling wagons. This is the best gift for this dairy farm mom, always, but especially on Mother’s Day. Seeing your kids learn some of the best life lessons of hard work, sacrifice and commitment is a gift that every mother wants, every day, not just on Mother’s Day.
