Time to Graduate

You can nearly hear the “YEEHAW” from ranch kids everywhere that are celebrating school being out for the summer.  They survived one more year sitting at their stuffy desks, studying out of their boring books, and completed all of their tedious projects and assignments to finally be free again, if only for a few short months. 

While they are celebrating, their parents are still on the fence on whether they are really ready for their herd of children to be turned back out for the summer.  Yes they are relieved that they have survived every band concert, special program, pop quiz, and standardized test.  And their gas bill thanks them that the school sports schedule is officially over. But a herd of wild ranch kids running feral for the summer does come with its costs.

For dad, it’s really a toss up if having the kids back in tow is good news or bad.  It all depends on how much “help” he actually gains for the summer.  Since he has the “fun” work of irrigating, haying, moving cows, and the like, of course everyone is going to want to tag along with him every chance they get.  There are always jobs he can assign for them to do, but it’s a gamble whether that will actually help get the work done or just make more work for dad in the end.

For mom, the summer fun is a little more complicated.  With a ranch full of adventures to be had, the kids are sure to be in and out with bizarre requests and instantaneous needs.  Household wares will disappear as quick and they do, but less likely to reappear at the end of the day.  Hearing their daily exploits would be thrilling, but sometimes it’s better to never know what they are really up to.

Now having had a few summers under my belt, I can offer ranch moms a touch of advice to help survive the summer, or at least give them comfort that they aren’t the only ones trying to endure the demands of summer fun.

First, every mom knows that hungry kids are far more savage so a stocked pantry and fridge are a must.  But since no ranch kid wants to sit at the kitchen table to eat, keeping food mobile is the challenge.  Aside from snacks that are designed to be on the go, having ziplock bags, napkins, and paper plates are going to be just as important to keep amassed as the food itself.  If not one of two problems are going to happen- your nice dinnerware is going to end up outside and eventually make their way to the sand pile or get drug off by the dogs.  Either way you will never see them again.

From the first day of summer, hide their “nice” clothes.  Don’t even let them have a chance to wear the few clothes that they haven’t stained, ripped or worn out.  It only takes wearing them once to the shop to help dad before they are doomed.  The official uniform of the summer should always be their ripped jeans and stained t-shirts.  

Even with a drawer full of work clothes, you are going to need a large supply of laundry detergent and stain remover for the summer.  One of everything should suffice because it seems that there isn’t a soap yet that can keep up with the messes a ranch kid can make.

 At some point in the summer, there will be some clothes that will need replacing.  I’m not talking about the worn out clothes that you think can’t possibly handle one more day hanging on your kids.  Nah, they will last... I’m talking about the clothes that get lost to the black hole of the sandpile, clubhouse, and alfalfa field and never return.  At our house socks, gloves, hoodies and even t-shirts find themselves leaving in the morning without ever returning at night.  

Be sure to brush up on your first aid skills as summer starts out.  Adventurous ranch kids are magnets for rusty nails, sharp barbed wire, and wood splinters.  They can’t help but fall from great heights, smash their fingers with rocks and hammers, and crash everything they sit down to drive.  Bandaids, ice packs, and boxes of ibuprofen can handle most boo-boos and I will just pray you don’t require anything more than that.

Unfortunately, when summer comes, any semblance of a schedule goes right out the window.  Scampering out with dad before breakfast will force lunch to come early, long before you are even ready to make it.  Cows moving slow on the cattle drive will delay lunch the next day and you will have to decide if it’s really lunch or dinner.  The weather, sunrise, cattle, and breakdowns will have far more sway of the daily schedule than you will.  I’m sorry, it’s just how it is.

Don’t let them know it, but you are going to need to lower your expectations of the chore list getting done.  Still harp on them to clean their rooms, take their turn scrubbing the toilet and emptying the dishwasher.  But just accept that more time playing and working outside will lend to less time playing and working inside.  Catching them to follow through with their duties of the day might be as challenging as keeping them fed and clean.

Keeping up with your adventurous ranch kids can be draining, frustrating and maybe even a little demoralizing.  Seeing them constantly dirty, tired, hungry and disheveled, losing their clothes, covered in cuts and bruises, and coming up short on their responsibilities might make you feel like you are failing as a mom.  

But what they gain as they work and play on the ranch, as they tough out those owies you don’t even see, and as make believe their messy adventures are priceless moments that prove you are doing just great.  They will make you crazy trying to keep some sense of order and control, but learning to navigate the unknown of everyday and problem solving on their own will teach lessons they might not learn another way.  So hang in there, momma.  You’re gonna do great!