I saw a meme the other day: It’s called May because it may bring rain, may bring hail, or may be sunny. Boy, hasn’t that been the truth for us in the last few weeks.
We have seen inches of hail with massive amounts of rain, then bright and sunny an hour later. Even had a frost warning causing us to quickly cover some of our garden. The weather has had quite the attitude.
With such a short growing window, it’s always a race between mother nature and us. I would say we don’t win all that often. And time gets sucked away from us each time.
Pretty much everything we do on the homestead has a season. Not just gardening but raising kids, livestock, even building projects. And it all takes blocks of time and energy.
In this season of our lives, we have five kids. Between homeschooling, errands, kids’ activities, and running the homestead business, we rarely catch a break. Throw in a little weather and we are squeezing everything to save the garden.
Years from now, when the kids are grown up and out of the house, there might be more free time. But will there really? Something will always fill it in.
The key is not to blindly go through each day. When all is so busy, it’s easy to go through the motions. Place another check on the to-do list.
The to-do list will never end. What will end is our kids’ childhood. Even if the garden dies, we will make it through this season. Mother nature will continue to throw her worst at us. How we utilize our time is most important.
During the frost warning, our oldest was able to jump in and help me secure the plants in the relative dark. It might not be a hike in the woods, but it’s still time together. A simple ‘Thank You’ goes a long way. It goes even farther with stubborn teenagers who often want nothing to do with us.
Five minutes of one-on-one time can make a difference. Even when we are fighting the weather or buried in schoolwork.
A stronger family comes from working together towards mutual success. Whether that’s a full garden in fall, or a fun family day at the park.
Don’t let the daily list get in the way of your family’s future happiness. Even when it doesn’t happen the way you dreamed it would.