Things you Learn as a Farmers Daughter

As a child I was the 3rd of 4 children. We lived on a farm. My brothers were 9 and 10 years older than me and my sister was 18 months younger. My brothers were both “farm boys” right down to their pearl buttoned plaid shirts and cowboy boots. My sister an I were raised on the farm but were merely “farmers daughters.” We were very protected by mom. We didn’t get to drive the tractor or even feed the cows. But we still had to walk the half mile lane to the bus each day and we had “real” milk on our cereal each morning, complete with the lumps of cream on top.
When I went to get dressed for church this morning, I put on my hose, and slipped on my shoe. “Ouch!” There was a square Lego in the bottom of my shoe. I shook my head and thought, “1st rule of leaving the house when you live on a farm, “Always shake your boots out, before you put them on.” As I finished getting ready for church, I began a list of rules for farmers daughters. Here are a few…

1. Never be the first to test if  the electric fence is “hot”.
2. When wading in the crick, always look for crawdads, and put your boots someplace dry. – NEVER skinny dip without a lookout.
3. When you come to the dinner table, take off your hat and put on a clean shirt.
4. You can’t mouth off to your mother, no matter how old you are.
5. If you are sent to the wood shed in July, it’s for a whooping, not for firewood.
6. When bringing home a boy, lock up the gun room.
7. If you are going to sign your spray paint artwork in the rafters of the barn, use your sisters name.
8. When your mom calls your name; she better see you running.
9. There’s always time for iced tea and a cookie.
10. The corn needs brought in, the hay needs put up, the lane grated, the tractor fixed, cows milked and the pigs fed. But come Sunday morning, none of that mattered, get yourself to church.

I Love Being a Farmers Daughter.