Raising Babies

    I can't think of a better place to raise babies than on a ranch. They learn a lot of responsibility from such a young age, are exposed to hard work, the circle of life, and aren't afraid of an honest day's work! If you ask me, it's the best place to be!
      There is always work to be done on a ranch...little kiddos get to help mama keep up the house, do the chores, and make sure there's a hot meal on the table for their hard working daddy when he gets home! There's not a lot of time for TV watching or video game playing. There are horses that need fed or doctored...pups that need working and feeding...meals to cook and shopping to do in town...it's a busy life, and since our work is also our everyday life, the babies will get drug around with us! They'll go in the pickup checking cows, in the ranger checking fence, on the horse, in the tractor...you get the picture! They will work right along side mama and dad to put food on the table! My baby is still just a baby, but he goes everywhere with us. He'll get to learn all about the most important things in life before he ever goes to school.
      Like with everything in life, there is a pain to the joy, a heartache to the happiness. We love and take care of our animals like they're part of the family, and when we lose a good horse or a beloved pup, it breaks our hearts! Since loss happens often when you have livestock, we won't really tell our babies that "Rudy ran away" or things along that line. It'll be easier to teach them early that death is a part of life, and that time marches on. Sometimes it's hard to stomach a loss, especially when it's your favorite horse. However, we have the rest of the remuda still to think of, and work has to keep going. We'll teach them how to cope with grief from an early age.
    It's important to teach your kids about real life. Kids these days are being raised inside a bubble and in front of a screen. They don't cope well in the real world. It's so, so important for the future generations to know life isn't inside a computer screen. I want my kids to know that the grass is green, what fresh cut hay smells like, how wonderful the sun feels on your face on the first warm spring day after a bitter winter. I want them to know their Mama would rather spend time with them than looking at a phone or watching TV. I want them to know how to enjoy little things like the mud between your toes when you swim in the pond, the cool shade of a big willow tree, the first snowfall of the year and the excitement it brings! Finding happiness in the little things helps get you through hard times, and makes the good times that much better.
     It's so easy to learn these things because of the way we live on the ranch. I'm very grateful this is how my babies will grow up...they might be outsiders in this technology filled world, but they will be happier for it! They will know that life is really only as complicated as you make it, and that you have to make your happiness ; it isn't just going to come find you!