The Meandering Mind of a Happy Farmwife

Our Children Really Did Follow in Our Footsteps. You have all probably heard the old saying, "I don't want my children to follow in my footsteps, I want them to take their own path and blaze a trail!" or something like that. Well, Jim and I were not that different than whomever said that quote first. We encouraged our children in everything. We cheered them on from the stands or concert seats, no matter what!  We were the LOUD Parents....ok, let me be honest, I was the loud parent, Jim just clapped loud, I screamed, hooped and hollered. I even one time jumped. up at an event screaming "That's my boy!!" only to find out, the tackle wasn't a legal tackle and he cost his team a penalty. But I was still proud to let the crowd know that that was MY BOY!!!  We supported and loved our children even in the mess ups, like the bad tackle or the choices that they made breaking their own hearts and ours.   We would have supported them even if they had decided on any...

Are you wishing to Vent or Asking for Advice? I read once that men often struggle when their wives tell them about something that is upsetting her, be it at her work place, church, with a friend or with a family member. Men are by nature "fixers". They take on the role of protector. You know like the old story of the Daddy that goes to the school to confront the bully picking on his child. (*Hopefully we have all learned this is not the solution, but its just an example) My Husband and I have become good at communicating to one another.  He knows when I am looking for advice or just need that bob of the head and the "I understand" look. Although I do often see in his eyes pain when I am venting and my hurt hurts him. He know when I am asking for advice or just venting. But this is after nearly 39 years of being in our relationship. Miscommunication is the leading issue in most every situation that causes the failure of friendships, marriages and even work relationsh...

Are You Living? Like really living?! Recently my son in-law posted a video on his instagram of him on his lawnmower tractor, a rope attached with the old sledding saucer attached to that, and there on the saucer was my daughter smiling the widest smile that even at dusk of an already gray day you could see the glow of her teeth. These two are adults, they are ages 25 and 26 years. They live in a neighborhood, not a subdivision necessarily, but a small little, "no outlet" neighborhood. After viewing this short little clip, we laughed and talked about what their neighbors might have been thinking as these two were out playing in the snow. (*You can take the girl out of the country, but ya can't take the country out of the girl) As the Parent of these two adult children, I have to say this short video got me thinking.  We all know when I start thinking, you never know where we might end up. This time it wandered to "when does it end?" Not our life, but our LIVING!!...

 Helping Others.....am I really Helping? Helping people is my thing.  If you need someone to make you feel better about your self, someone in your corner cheering you on, someone pointing out the good in you and hushing you as you criticize yourself, I am your person. I am the first to want to never cause someone hurt, to the point that I will sometimes bite my tongue rather than say truthful words that might cause a person pain . I was thinking about this character trait of mine, and how most people think "helping others" is a great attribute. But for some, like me, it is a flaw.   You see there is helping others and then there is enabling.  Let's take a closer look at those words. Helping as defined in the dictionary as  "to make easier for someone to do something by offering one's services or resources." Enabling as defined in the dictionary as "to make able; give power or authority, competence." In this definition it would be something like th...

Who is your Valentine? The other day, as I was headed over to watch my sweet Grandbabies, a thought came to me.  If you have followed me before, it is obvious that my Blog title is accurate, "The Meandering Mind of a Happy Farmwife." This particular day, out of the blue, I found myself wondering about Valentine's Day.  I guess because we just finished celebrating Christmas, I thought something like this, "hmmm, Christmas is about when Love came down, Jesus was born. Valentine's is all about Love. What is the origin of Valentine's Day anyway? Seems both holidays are all about LOVE?" Yes this is how my brain works, I am only glad it was not while I lay in bed trying to go to sleep this time. I spend many sleepless nights with my mind wandering and wondering. My husband and my anniversary happens to be in February, but not because of Valentines day. Although it would  be fitting. Truth however is it is because after 6.5 years waiting for him to decide to ma...