Top 6 Reasons Why Harvest Stinks

Hubby and I took the kids back West the end of June so Hubby could help my dad and family w/ wheat harvest. This took about a week, we were there for 5 of those days.

My family has farmed for the last 3 generations. As you can tell from my list, I didn't care for the farm life.

1) Unpredictable schedules - growing up I didn't see my dad much during harvest. He left early in the morning and got home late at night. I'd see him when we took supper to the field.

2) Poor pay - you never know the price of your wheat until you get to the coop to unload. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. This makes for unhappy workers.

3) The field was dirty - when I was younger it was too hot to wear jeans in the field, but the cut wheat stalks would scratch my legs and my feet would get dirty if I wore sandals.

4) Helping move equipment - when I was old enough to drive, my dad would call and ask me to help he and my brother move to another field. This meant I had to leave the nice air conditioned house and drive 20 minutes on a dirt road trying to find a field I didn't know how to get there (even though I'd been there w/ my mom before). I would then follow my dad, who was driving the combine, w/ his pickkup which was beyond dirty and there was no way to adjust the seat so I had to keep myself propped up by holding on the steering wheel.

5) I had to eat last and help load/clean up - this was probably my least favorite, as I said above it was hot in the field, dirty and itchy. We would take supper late around 7:30 or 8 so I was overly hungry. Sometimes we would have to sit there for awhile before the men came to a stopping point and I wasn't allowed to eat early. It was for the men.

6) Unreliable equipment - things would break down and they would need someone to pick up parts sometimes being an hour away.


When we were home for a week, I helped my mom take supper to the field (my sister-in-law cooked too), my kids rode in the combine, and I listened to my 8 year old niece complain about having to help.

I heard her complain about having to put ice in cups and take drink orders, about having to be out in the heat and how itchy her feet were getting.

I passed on my wisdom telling her she was going to go through this every summer, I did and I hated it too.

Every night we were in the field, most of my family was there. My grandpa who owns some of the land we farm and is retired, my aunt, my kids and myself, my sister-in-law and her 4 kids. We sat around a folding table eating and talking.

After years of hating the field, I loved seeing the excitement in my kid's faces when they saw their daddy and the combine, I loved the laughs and conversation we shared, even after the men went back to the field.

I finally understood why going to the field was so important.

My Name is Megan ... and I have no idea who I am

Updated version

As I stated in an earlier post, I turned 30 on my last birthday. Like anyone reaching a milestone birthday, I've done some reflecting on my life.

I took a Philosophy class about 2 years ago and hated it. I'm not a deep thinker nor am I one to take risks and speak my mind.

The final for this class was to write 2 essays. The first question being: What did you expect to learn from this class? The second: What DID you learn from this class?

We were given these questions a week before the final so I had time to think about my answers. And what I came up w/ (and have probably already subconsciously knew) is that I am a naive person.

It was handed down to me by my mom who thinks the best of everyone, gives them the benefit of the doubt, and has to make conversation w/ every person she meets.

Not to mention, we didn't have a lot of "family" discussions about sex, alcohol, etc. My mom just assumed I learned everything I needed to know in school which was true, but it would have been nice to have my mom to talk to about it.

I was also your typical good girl who did everything I was supposed to, never broke the rules (much), and looked the other way when something uncomfortable was going on.

So this Philosophy opened my eyes a little to the fact that I had no idea who I was as a person. I had my BA in English (Creative Writing), I was a wife and mother, I had a part time job I really enjoyed, and I was pregnant w/ my 2nd child.

Yet I didn't really have a feel for who I was. I've really started thinking about this a month or 2 before my birthday and have yet to come up w/ an answer.

Don't get me wrong, I love being a wife, mother, etc. but feel like my life is lacking something. In high school I wanted to be a screenwriter, in college I just wanted to write something and get published.

Now I'm just struggling to find the time to write anything (hence this blog was formed).

Anyone else out there struggling w/ their identity?

It's been a year since I wrote the above post. I now have 3 children, the oldest is in kindergarten. I still feel like I'm lacking in areas. Again, I love being a mother but feel that's all anyone ever sees me for. I'm Carsen's mom when I volunteer in his classroom. When I go home to visit my parents everyone wants to see the kids, that's my purpose in life: to give people optimal viewing of my children. 

Even my Hubby (who is super supportive of me and completely understanding) I feel only sees me as a Mom. We took a Marriage retreat class w/ 4 other couples thru our church earlier this year and when asked to name something you admire about your spouse, every husband in the room stated their wife was a good mother. 

Now I'm proud my Hubby thinks I'm a good mom. I'd be upset if he didn't, but I didn't want my whole identity to be simply Mom. 

I like to think of myself as a writer, a great organizer, an entertainment junkie, a great typist, and a great friend. Now these may not sound like great characteristics, but they mean something to me and I want people to know those in addition to the great mother thing. 

I'm going to continue to find my identity and truth be told I may never find her, but I need to get out of my comfort zone and find her. 

Summer Vacation Stress

My son just finished his 1st year of preschool. 2 days a week for 2.5 hours. It was nice to have those 2 mornings free for some one on one time w/ Baby Girl.

And let's be honest, it was nice to have that break from the Boy. I love him to pieces, but he can be hard to handle sometimes. (On the plus side, his meltdowns have almost disappeared completely or last for only a minute at most.) Next year he'll go to preschool 3 mornings a week.

Like every other mom out there, I was dreading summer break. I was already having trouble scheduling morning activities for 2 mornings a week, now I was going to have to come up w/ 3 or more!

We visit 3 different libraries a week so that takes care of about 3 days. Our rec center has a couple different activities for 3-5 year olds I plan to enroll him in not to mention blastball starts next month.

In the midst of all this panic to stay busy, I'm also finding it hard to fit everything into our schedule. Crazy, right? A lot of activities start at the same time on the same days.

There's story hour at 3 different libraries, special programs/story times b/c of summer reading, rec center activities, vacation bible school, visiting grandparents (fair, harvest), play dates w/ friends, swimming lessons, visiting the pool. Just to name a few.

Some activities I haven't signed the Boy up for yet. I'm still trying to make the pieces fit. It seems silly to stress about trying to fit all these different programs into our summer. The Boy isn't going to know what activity we're missing so what's the point in trying to hit them all?

Swimming lessons and pool time are pretty high on the priority list. Story times and library programs are okay to miss. Visits to grandparents will happen at specific times during the summer, easy to plan around. The rest will just have to happen week by week.

Anyone else having trouble fitting everything into their summer?

Meetup Group Gripes

I belong to a Meetup group (a website that pairs people w/ similar interests according to location like writers, bird watchers, homeschooled kids, SAHM). I joined last summer when we moved to Wichita.

For the most part I enjoy the outings and I've met one really great mom who I do things w/ outside the group. I do, however, have a few complaints about the group.

1) Home Play Dates - Many of the activities offered are play dates at other Mom's homes. My complaint about this activity is that every month the same mom's RSVP to go to these play dates. Most of them have more than 2 kids which I understand, they don't want to take that many kids out to a public activity, but for those of us who live outside of Wichita (that's right it usually takes me over 30 min. to reach an activity), we would like a chance to attend these play dates. There is a limit on how many people can attend each play date so as you can imagine, they fill up almost immediately after the event is created.

2) Other Moms/Kids - After you've attended a few group activities you know which kids/moms you want to avoid. There aren't many kids in the group my son's age, at least not boys, and there's one mom/child I do NOT want my son to play with. So I tend to avoid any activities where there isn't a group larger than 4 moms. When there are less kids, that's more one on one time my son would spend w/ the "problem" child.

3) Organizational Meetings - Once a month the group gets together to plan the next months activities. They usually meet on a Tuesday or Wednesday night at 6:30 PM in Wichita. My Hubby usually doesn't get home from work until 6:45 PM so chances are slim I will attend a meeting. I think the group is doing a good job of choosing the activities but it would be nice to have a say in what goes on the calendar. Some people complain b/c all the activities happen on the East side of Wichita and they live on the West side.

4) Time of Activity - ALL the activities take place in the morning. Not every day, but every activity has a start time in the AM. I can't figure out why they don't schedule any afternoon activities. I understand some kids need to be picked up from school, nap time conflicts, etc. but it would be nice to have other options. (I know I could bring this point up at the organizational meetings)

5) My Schedule - When school was still in session, it seemed like a lot of fun activities happened on Tuesday mornings. My son had preschool every Tuesday and Thursday meaning I couldn't attend. The time it would have taken me to drive to and from Wichita I wouldn't have had any time to participate in the activity. Next year, my son will go to school on M, W, F. Hopefully we won't miss as many fun activities.

I've met some great moms through this group and none of these complaints are severe enough to make me quit the group. It's just therapeutic to B***H and let off some steam.

Thanks for listening (reading)!

A quick favor: Could someone PLEASE like my page on Facebook?! I haven't done much w/ the page, but I think one of the reasons is I know no one is looking. Help me boost my self esteem!

I'm NOT a Morning Person

I've never been a morning person. In college I could sleep until at least 11 on the weekends. And I didn't even stay up that late the night before. (Again, I was lame in college.)

After I got married and started work in the "real world" it was hard to sleep past 8 or 9 on the weekends.

And then after our son came we found sleep wherever we could get it. After my daughter came, Hubby would let me sleep in most weekends. Once she was older, she didn't need to be fed immediately after waking which meant I didn't need to get up right away.

My usual morning routine has been: Hubby gets up, showers, leaves for work, I'm still in bed. Our son comes in about 30 minutes later to tell me Good morning and would I make him breakfast. (This is usually roughly 7:30.)

I then stall as long as I can (usually another 15-30 min) until the Girl wakes up.

Over the weekend Hubby was gone so I was playing the single parent. My son insisted on getting up at 6:30 Saturday morning and wanted milk which he can't get himself so I HAD to get up. I couldn't stall him. (I know how lazy/selfish of me to want to spend time in bed.)

After I got the water, I snoozed on the couch while he watched TV. Baby girl didn't get up until almost 8.

I'm embarrassed to admit that when my kids force me to get up earlier than I want, I tend to be a little on the cranky side. I'm short w/ my son, scold him for small things, and find fault w/ almost everything.

I know being a mother is my full time job and I'm supposed to be at their beck and call at every moment, but mornings are not the time I turn into June Cleaver and have breakfast and a smile waiting for them.

I'm working on changing my attitude. Just like I tell my son. I'm waiting for the day to come when I tell him I don't like his attitude and he tells me he doesn't like mine either.

That will not be a very happy day for either one of us.

Cartoons = Trouble

I've already told you all that my son likes to watch My Little Pony. Our new favorite is Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. (If you all haven't seen this show, you need to. It's awesome! It's on Cartoon Network.)

Anyway, Hubby and I are BIG fans of this show as well (I know it's a cartoon)so didn't mind adding it to our queue. Unfortunately, Netflix hasn't added any new episodes. We've watched the same 13 episodes at least 30 times.

Our daughter pleads to watch, "Bloo," on a regular basis and she's just so darn cute it's hard to say no!

This particular cartoon has taught our son some not so great behavior. In one episode, a character gets tied up, mouth taped shut, and put in a closet.

On several occasions, a character says, "What the...?"

(THIS IS NOT A VIOLENT CARTOON!)

My son has started using my hair ties to bound Woody's arms and legs, he asked me for tape to place across Woody's mouth (and later his own mouth). He no longer has access to my hair ties.

And saying, "What the...?" on a regular basis.

What kind of behavior do your kids get from cartoons?

High Expectations for Mother's Day

There are a lot of ecards and blog posts going around about Mother's Day.

Ok again, I was on vacation last week (sorry to keep bringing that up). I was gone for 3 1/2 days leaving Hubby alone w/ our 2 kids.

He asked me for a list of activities they could do while I was gone. I found this particulary funny. I didn't have a list when we moved here and I became a SAHM. Why should he have one?

The weather was rainy and overcast most of the time I was gone. Hubby reported there were no meltdowns, no major issues, and the house was clean when I got home. Like vacuumed the carpet, bathroom, floors were clean of toys, kitchen counters and sink were cleared off, way more effort than I put forth on a day to day basis.

I have to add that I did receive a text on day #2 stating I needed a raise b/c even though the kids were being good, their demands were constant. I got a small thrill from this, but that was the end of the sympathy for mom.

I had a small fantasy that Hubby would see how hard my job was and get me an awesome Mother's Day gift.

Then I walked into a spotless house and was told the kids were great the whole time I was gone. What?!

What an eye opener that maybe I need to put forth more of an effort to get things picked up before Hubby comes home.

The toys scattered in the living room/kitchen don't bother me all that much. But I know they bother Hubby.

He's usually the one to pick things up after the kids are in bed. We make our son pick up his own room before bed.

Back to Mother's Day, Hubby has a day trip for work on Sunday (what a rip right?). To say I'm less than pleased would be an understatement. I'M PISSED!

He's been gone the last 2 days, will be home tomorrow for supper, we're taking a day trip on Saturday, he's gone Sunday, and off Monday only to be gone on his annual "Man Weekend" the following Friday.

Ah the life of a pilot's wife.

What are your Mother's Day expectations? I'll let you know if I'm surprised.