Blonde headed toddlers frolicking through a field chasing butterflies and the sun. The sound of their laughter radiates across the field and your soul soaks up all the goodness. It sounds like a scene from a movie, but on occasion it is my reality. Granted, most days of mothering littles on the farm can be hair pulling stressful, but sometimes you get those movie magic moments that keep you hanging on for more.
When I was a little girl I would often fantasize about one day being a mother. Each fantasy involved the combination of adorable babies and nature. Now I’m grown and actually living out my fantasy and raising toddlers up on our small farm. As romantic as it sounds, It’s not always easy…things get messy!
A surprisingly large portion of my day is spent cleaning up pooh! Not just baby pooh, farm animal pooh. Then I spend another large portion of the day reminding the youngest not to touch or eat the animal pooh. Then, another portion of the day calling the pediatrician and googling all the terrible things that can happen to a child who eats pooh.
Ugh!
But then.
Then something magical happens. We’ll head out to the garden and the littles will charm me with their enthusiasm for growing food and their knowledge of where it all comes from and how it grows. I melt and realize this life is good!
It’s moments like this that keep me grounded.
It is rare these days for most kids to know exactly where their food comes from, and even more rare for them to have a hand at growing that food. And let’s just be real, some kids don’t even eat REAL food at all. I’m not shaming anyone here, I’m just being honest.
I want something different for my family. I so badly want my kids to have a close relationship with their food. I want them to respect the animals we eat, nurture the vegetables we grow, and make healthy food choices for themselves. Through all the chaos of everyday farm life, we’re teaching them to give back to the earth and to be grateful for what we take from it. They are learning patience, kindness, gratitude, and humility; some days they are even better at these things than I am.
They get to explore, and discover nature. Plant seeds in the spring and harvest in the summer and fall. They learn how to ethically and humanely harvest homegrown meat, and they witness first hand how farm animals are born, hatched, and raised by their mothers. It’s the childhood that I always longed for. They are learning so many valuable life lessons and they don’t even realize it yet!
It’s worth it folks! Your dreams are worth the hassle.
It’s funny how the very thing that tends to drain you completely, is also the thing that fills you right back up. When your running on empty, like I so often find myself, try to just keep coasting in.  Chances are, that next magical movie moment is right around the corner waiting to fill you back up! 
Farm To Table Mama 
Love you all so much!!!!!
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