Then and Now

 

Then and Now

As I look at my two sons’ families, I smile because they have each gifted me with 3 delightful grand daughters. One family has the girls’ ages at 15, 12, and 11. The other family has girls who are 9, 7, and 4. Of course they are as smart as whips and intellectually and physically (athletics, sports, and dance) gifted. I know, I know. But grandparents are permitted/allowed to brag and perhaps exaggerate a little bit.

I look at what they are allowed or asked to do as they fill a role in their families. There is

some “helicoptering”. There is a lot of community pressure in the form of political

correctness. It is a different “time’ from my childhood days of the 1940’s and the 1950’s.

Those of you young enough who have children of these ages or if you are a grandparent

of children of these ages, you will know today’s norms.

 

We moved back to the farm from our neighboring village of Wroxton when I was 7 years old. This opened up a whole new world of activities and demands on our family. My dad was now farming again and my mom was in seventh heaven because she now had all the garden space she wanted or needed.

We had two fields of summer fallow near our yard. They were each about 30 acres in size. The rest of the farm stretched out to include an extra 180 acres. Most of it was arable with some hay meadows, a pasture, and some treed acres from which we derived our firewood for the year.

We had two tractors, a Small John Deere and a much larger Allis Chalmers with all the bells and whistles. My dad would let me sit on his lap as he worked the smaller plots with the john Deere. Usually he would disk the soil and then harrow it to keep free of weeds. Soon he let me steer the tractor only taking over at the turning at the end of the field. Eventually I got to do that. As I showed that I could handle the job, he sat on the fender while I had the whole seat and complete charge of the steering wheel. Eventually he would sit in some shade at the end of the field while I handled the tractor by myself. When he saw that I was to be trusted and that I was capable, he simply went back to do some other required work in the yard.

It was like this with both of my parents. As I grew older more chores and jobs were assigned to me after I had received instruction and hands-on training. By time I was 10, I had graduated to the “big” tractor and I was taking my turns at working all the fields. At this age my dad taught me to drive our half-ton truck because I could now reach the clutch and shift gears properly. This came in handy when I was twelve and he bought a combine and a grain auger. I could now take the grain from the combine while he was driving it and take it back to the farmyard where we had our granaries and I would manually off-load it into the auger’s hopper where it would be augured into the granary.

When I was nine my mom started teaching me how to milk a cow. By lots of practice and with a very patient cow, I soon mastered the fine art of pulling the teats properly. I could never approach my mom’s level of dexterity. She milked her four cows in the time it took me to milk my one patient cow.

My mom and dad relied on my help. I felt like I was a good contributor. Chores I was responsible for:

·         separating the milk and storing the cream in a special container that hung by a rope into the cool depths of our well;

·         feeding the pigs their mixture of chopped grain and skimmed mild from the separator;

·         feeding the chickens, geese, and turkeys with their mixtures of grains;

·         feeding the dogs their chopped grain and skimmed milk;

·         feeding the cats bread soaked in skimmed milk – they had to catch mice for protein;

·         feeding the cows their hay forked down from the loft;

·         turning the cows out to the corral and feeding them hay;

·         in the warmer months after milking, chasing the cows to the pasture and retrieving them in the evening for milking;

·         cleaning up the manure from the cattle and fowl and spreading out fresh clean straw;

·         helping my mom plant and weed and water her huge garden;

·         in fall helping her harvest the “fruits of our labor” and helping her prepare the “fruits” to be canned;

·         mowing our large lawns;

·         keeping the wood box filled

·         keeping the water pail in the kitchen filled for consumption in cooking and drinking

·         cleaning snow off the paths

·         washing the truck

·         helping my dad cut down our wood supply for next year

·         chopping wood

·         helping my mom with washing dishes

I am sure there were many other jobs and chores. Many of them my grandchildren would love to attempt and many they can do now. But many are not options available in an urban setting. Some I was allowed to do so early because three people eased the load of work on two people. When I had proven my competency and did my work capably and safely, I was glad to do them to help my family. Many of these chores and jobs had to be done before or after school. When the summer holidays came, I worked harder but I enjoyed being out of doors and working with animals and generally contributing. I am glad I had these experiences growing up. Do I wish this type of life for my granddaughters? I can't honestly answer that.