Farm Life: Farmers and Four Year Olds

It's spring, finally! The days are longer {or at least rearranged to match my sleeping habits thank you day-light savings}, the flowers are starting to bloom, the trees are budding, and the birds are singing louder. Or, at least I think the birds are singing louder. I cant always hear them over the buzz of tractors.

A couple weeks ago, on the very first day that it hit 60 degrees, my husband, his father and his uncle were all here on the farm driving tractors and back hoes around. That day they each got on a loud, powerful, toy {er, um, piece of equipment} and drove about the field. They each claimed they were doing the very important job of making sure the equipment didnt stop working correctly over the winter. A very thorough job was done of running them through the fields, up the drive, and down the road. I felt like I was in a real life episode of Bob the Builder! Mustang and Charger did too, they sat and watched for hours. Free entertainment for all :). Except the cost of fuel.

Mustang has a huge need to be first at things lately. She will push Charger flat on his face as she races to be first to the table in the morning so she can be the first to get her cereal. She isnt alone, I observed her Cubbies class the other day and one little girl was crying that she wasnt first in line, which made others notice that they werent first either and then there was an entire line of 4 year olds disappointed that they were not the first in the line that was headed to the very exciting...restroom.

My mother in law commented that this is the time of year that my FIL gets 'that far away look in his eyes' and she knows she has lost her man to the little boy that gets to play with tractors, dig dirt, and dream of growing something edible. And, it is important to the four year old, er I mean, farmer, to be FIRST. Heaven forbid that the neighbor would be one day ahead! Yesterday my farmer man and his dad got to be first. Their ground is just a little higher then others in the area, so they were first to drive their tractor out to the field and start spreading some anhydrous, and of course they had just a little extra hop in their step today :).