It seems like when I look at blogs these days they are about food, homesteading, or sewing. Of course they would be, because those are things that many people enjoy doing.

Everyone likes to eat…! And eat healthily, right? We personally enjoy trying out the many different recipes from Skinny Taste. ( https://www.skinnytaste.com/ )

Everyone likes to wear clothes, and making them yourself is fulfilling.

And homesteading brings about a feeling of self sufficiency that often times we feel we don’t have.

My mother was raised in the mountains, in a small city in Maryland. My father was raised in the countryside. Both of them had parents that were very self sufficient. My fathers family in particular. They were not well off, and so many things were reused and repurposed in order to stretch every penny. My father learned this well, and despite doing well in his work he still stretched every penny. He also knew much about farming, and animals, because growing up he worked all the neighboring farms to make extra cash.

I joined 4-H as soon as I could, and learned more there. The girlscouts didn’t quite do it for me, and I desperately wanted to learn the things my brother was learning from the Boy Scouts. But it was a different time back then.

Once I had my own house, and then my own property, I started leaning hard into my self sufficiency love. I began growing huge gardens for vegetables. Raising dairy goats. I kept chickens and ducks. Pigs. I learned how to preserve the food we made, and make so many things from scratch. I was very proud of myself.

It also helped me to stay in a good headspace. If I was outside in the open air it helped my mindset. Working and using my muscles always made me feel healthier. That stays true today. If I don’t get outside every other day I start to fall into a depression. I am a creature that is solar powered!

The biggest contraint I ever found to this endeavour was time. Being the mother of two young children who were on the go made it so hard to spend hours over a hot stove, pressure or hot water bath canning vegetables!

However, as they got older they learned from me. I would make sure to show them how to do certain things around the farm.

Gathering eggs and feeding animals was usually the first step. Many an egg was lost in this learning curve, but it was still a good lesson in helping.

Milking the goats was a dreaded chore, because of the monotony. Once I got myself a Henry Milker ( http://www.henrymilker.com/ ) they were much happier. …so were the goats.

Learning that they were part of where their food came from was a good lesson. And the lessons also included birth and death. They would help bring lives into the world, and stand witness to when they left. Sometimes it wasn’t pretty. But it was a lesson none the less.

Now we are in a different place. I don’t have the little farm anymore, and we live in the middle of suburbia. However those lessons still remain. Animals get tended before we do, and there are still eggs to be gathered.

It spills over into other things as well. Self care. Grooming… because teenagers… Taking care of your things, because they are an investment. making sure grades are taken care of because its part of your job.

I don’t micromanage, but everyone has a chore chart that has daily tasks, and weekly tasks. I rotate them so that it doesn;t get too boring. And while there is the typical groaning and growling over chores, they don’t feel its overboard. …usually.

They also pass these lessons onto their friends. I have heard them showing them how to handle the animals, and how to do certain tasks around the house.

Self sufficiency creates independence, and I personally feel that fostering their independence creates a powerful and strong child.