With not much snow this season, and plenty of school snow days in reserve we enjoyed a day of egg collecting and egg washing this past Friday due to the schools being closed. My son, Abe, was a willing participant (mostly) as we attempted to fill the day with activities, other than "screen time". So for a few productive hours, we collected egg after egg from the nest boxes, eventually filling almost five, 5-gallon buckets of eggs.
I didn't grow up on a farm and so sometimes I am uncertain and just feel weird not knowing if I'm supposed to force my kid to do farm chores. I don't have a history of hard-knock farm tales like, "Well, MY daddy made me get up at 4 am before school each day to muck out the stalls, milk the cows, and churn the butter...so darn straight you're gonna do the same..." But carrying out chores and accomplishing meaningful tasks are innately satisfying nonetheless. So for a few hours, egg duties were ours and we embraced the day and our time together. Hopefully, more enjoyable, productive days like this will continue as Abe grows and can contribute in greater and deeper ways to the farm. We feel lucky living on a farm and most days I think he’d agree.
