I Am SO Grateful To Be A Stay-At-Home Mom. Sure We May Be "Poor" Yet We Are Rich In So Many Other Ways...
If I had a "real" job...
We probably would have been able to buy some land by now, but who would be home to take care of it all? Who would grow the food? Who would tend to the animals?
We have 20 egg laying chickens. We also have 36 chicks which were hatched by 4 hens just last month.
We also raised 50 meat birds this summer, they were a lot of work, I had to sprinkle cool water on them many times a day to try and keep their body temperatures down in the intense heat waves we were having, never mind how often I had to fill their water and feed dishes.
Next year we will be adding pigs to our homestead. The going is slow because of finances, yet, we are persistently getting to the point where we need less and less money to survive.
Even though our homestead is small and we are renting, our landlord is really cool and he has let us grow food instead of lawns. Every year we add more gardens and greenhouses as money permits. This was our best year yet, with food bursting out of every corner of our property. Next year we will plant the remaining sections that we couldn't afford to this year.
If I had a "real" job...
We would be able to put our kids into all the sports they want to be in, but who would be here for them every day after school? Who would they be raised by? More strangers. So they would be raised by strangers all day and then with all our money, we could take them to some other places after day care to be with more strangers all evening.
If I had a "real job" we'd be able to order pizza and get all the treats the kids want, but who would bake them bread and buns every day? Who would be feeding them wholesome homemade dinners with all the food we grow and animals we raise?
The boys wanted me to bake another pie, so we set out to collect more berries. There aren't many blueberries left so we picked huckleberries, blackberries and a few blueberries. When my husband came home from work, he took them out again to get more. I added in some apple because apparently the kids ate more than they put in the bowl haha!
Buns buns buns! I have to bake 60 or more a week for my ravenous boys!
Sourdough bread. I bake a couple of these a week, usually one I give away to friends or family, everyone loves my bread!
Chicken vegetable soup, all from our homestead except the salt and pepper! Nothing beats that feeling! NOTHING!
If I had a "real job" I'd never have the energy to do the things I do for our family, becoming sustainable is what we are trying to do, to cut down costs so eventually my husband won't have to work very much outside of the homestead.
We want to cut out the middle man (money) and provide most of our needs ourselves, or by trading/bartering within our community. We believe that both parents should be home. We believe that it is unnatural for kids to grow up missing one or both parents!
If I had a "real job"...
Who would be home to try and BE the CHANGE we wish so badly to see in the world?
And I have to finish off by saying I am SO GRATEFUL for Steemit! For everyone who has supported me! Because of Steemit and all of you beautiful souls, I am finally earning an income for the first time in 5 years!
It helps so much to have that little extra help around here, and the best part is, I don't have to leave my homestead and my children to do it. I get to do what I love, and it's what I did everyday on other social media anyways.
I wrote about it last month, when we were going through some crazy shit with Brendan being out of work, I was able to use what I had saved on Steemit since last September to pay our rent! You can read my story if you'd like:
Thanks To Steemit I Was Able To Help Our Family In A Tough Time!
I wouldn't change my life or my choices for the best paying job in the world, if it meant I had to leave everything we have going on here.
Being here for my family, plants and animals. Sustainability and the self worth that comes from being able to meet our own needs without using the middle man (money)...
You have a 'real' job babe. All the things you are doing are real.
You're such an awesome person and you are living the dream.
Youre bringing up your family the right way, not relying on the increasingly controlling government is going to stand your children in good stead
Providing organic healthy food at home means you're less beholden to the system. Be proud you're doing an amazing thing.
Awww....a TREMENDOUS comment from an AMAZING friend xoxo Thank you so much for the BIG LOVE & RESPECT you give me every day!! :) :)
Ditto Lyndsay,
I have great respect for your posts and the way you live your life.
No, you don't have a real job. You do have the most important job in the world though and that is being a mother to your children. So often children are raised by the preschool and then the K12 school followed up by after school care and finally the parents see them for a couple hours in the evening. Repeat. It's hard to have a true impact on your children if you rarely see them.
Being a police officer and now a school teacher I have a pulse on society and it's not good. Most of the issues can be traced back to the home. I'm so concerned with this that over this next school year it is my mission to replace as much of my income as possible so that I can stay home and homeschool my children. I want my influence on them and I don't want them subjected to a public school system.
You may be poor and not a land owner but you are doing the right thing! It looks like your children are being fed healthy meals and being raised in a healthy environment with loving parents. I wish all kids could be so lucky!
What a wonderful thing you will be doing @dwhntx! A huge leap of faith, yet I know you will succeed!! Thank you for being so awake and aware, and like you said, having a pulse on society. You don't have your head in the sand, you see with clear, open eyes, what is happening to our kids, and where the roots lay.
You have the soul of an angel and the face to match. It's so wonderful what your kids and husband have to come home to every day.
I can't wait to follow the pig-raising adventure. I had another boss who once opened a pig farm to piss off a real estate developer on Nantucket. He said the pigs really were the sweetest and smartest animals you could imagine.
Have you done a post on processing the chickens for meat? Some people might find it grisly (less so than factory farming, surely!) but I'd love to see how it's done. Maybe I could find the courage to do it when our next batch of roosters grows up.
Thanks for following and supporting our lifestyle Winston! I haven't done a post on how to kill/prepare chickens, I don't know if I would, there's a lot of great resources out there, and putting it here might be yeah...like you say...grisly.
This is the BEST article I have ever seen: How to Humanely Butcher Your Chicken http://abundantpermaculture.com/how-to-humanely-butcher-your-own-chicken-dinner/
When roosters start messing up the flock it is essential to remove them. We have found it really hard to find new homes for them, so they have become another part of our food supply.
This is a fantastic post Lyndsay. There is no more important job in the world than raising children and caring for your family. You guys have made the right decision and as tough as it might get at times it will all work I'm sure. If you were 'at work' it would also be tough, just in other ways.
I wish you, Brendan and the kids all the very best, and keep Steemin!
Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement that you continuously give to me and to our family. You are always lifting me up, and I really appreciate the solidarity. Much Love SteemTruth. :) :) :)
Much Love to you LyndsayBowes <3
It is Priceless @Lyndsaybowes. A real job, indeed. As a stay-home-father of two toddlers - (2 & 3 1/2) - I understand you have the hardest, non-paying, never-ending job that doesn't always get the appreciation it deserves. I have done it for nearly 4 years now and it's the hardest job that I'll never quit..😂The little moments make all the rest worthwhile.
It's a tough endeavor to take on; the task of keeping a home in order and operational, feeding a family, growing the food, keeping bills paid - it is incredibly difficult! It does have its rewarding moments though when you manage to keep everything balanced. It can feel like juggling.
Our Job Makes 9-5 Seem Easy Sometimes!
• We don't clock-out; we go to sleep at work and wake up there too
• No sick days, leave time, personal days
I love to joke about this stuff to my friends and then I'll say something like "I miss working only 94 hours a week." 😆
You certainly have your hands full, but at least your bellies aren't empty! Healthy garden and healthy chickens - that's a lot of work!!
A healthy, wholesome, loving environment is the greatest gift that you can give your children. No amount of money can buy that for anyone. It's a shame that more people won't know that sort of environment unless we, the parents, show the future HOW.
Great post and Good vibes to you and yours @lindsaybowes.
Thanks so much for the awesomely empathetic comment @grow-pro! You know exactly what I'm saying that's for sure :) :) :)
This made me laugh my ass off though!
BWA HAHHAHAHHAAAAA!!!! Yup.......
Lyndsay!!!! Look at all the work you do already. You're right, Who would do everything? You're amazing Lyndsay!
From the little that I know of her since joining Steemit, she most certainly is. You seem pretty good too Brendan ;)
You guys are blessed to have each other!
Thank you very much steemtruth. You are a very kind soul. Thanks for being so supportive all the time.
Thank you so much B and you are always so appreciative <3 <3 I love the life that we are slowly creating xoxoxooxoxoxox <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 XOXOoxXOxOXO
You do have a real job and then some. You are a valuable partner in a homestead. You are teaching your children real values. These things are all more important than any 9-5 real job. Don't ever second guess your choices. You are living a real life. Keep on doing what you do best.
Thank you so much for that comment, it really brings a tear to my eyes! <3 <3 <3 Heart SWELLS!!!!
I can't love this article enough. The world is a different place today vs. when I was a child 60 years ago. The hustle and bustle of rushing off to make money has left so many of us disconnected with our families and others. So many people today don't even know their neighbors names and helping each other isn't even considered.
Our little ones are the benefactors of our decisions and being home to teach them to be giving, loving and kind are lessons so many are denied these days. I say bravo Lyndsay, you are doing your children and your community a true service.
Thank you very much for your uplifting comment @themerrylotus, I really hope we can get back to traditional values, it would be so nice to see things change...
@lyndsaybowes, I would like to say (a) that what you do is completely "real" and authentic, and maybe it's the rest of the world that is "artificially constructed." I used to go give self-development workshops, and that was often one of the teachings we sent people home with when they wanted to know how to apply what they had learned in the "real" world. Well, your world IS "real." And a shining example of what more people should strive for!
Oh, and then there's the JOB thing. Consider this possibility: JOB is merely an acronym for "Just Over Broke."
Oooh I love your acronym HAHAHAHAA!!! TRUTH!!!!!
Thank you so much for the amazing encouragement you have given me, really makes me feel good!
What a fantastic post. You're an amazing woman!
Thank you so much Karen (Carin') you're always Caring for others, it's so beautiful, you are an amazing Soul!!