thankful for farmers -- and especially mine

 

Pregnancy teaches you a lot about your husband. (It also teaches you a lot about donuts and why women hate scales, but that's neither here nor there.)

  

My husband is a busy farmer. He manages employees and cows and crops and machinery. He works at his desk at home before he goes to his desk at work. He works at his desk at night after he gets home from working at work. He tracks data and runs reports. He does research and recon. He works with nutritionists and dairy science professors and seed salesmen. He buys hay and heifers.  

 

And in the midst of it all, he takes care of me and our little girl and never, ever complains. He chases her while I put the supper dishes away and reads her books and helps her pick up her toys before she goes to bed. And she -- and I -- love every minute. 

I mean, on Valentine's Day, this guy bought me flowers . . . AND CHOCOLATE MILK . . . AND ICE CREAM because he is just that thoughtful. 

He tells me to put my feet up at night, and when I'm editing articles in the evenings and whining about contractions, he grabs his computer and sits next to me and keep refilling my water. 

He even sends me off to get pedicures and insists I get Panera mango smoothies and mac and cheese while I'm there. (Sir, yes, sir. No arguments from me!) 

 

I just keep his clothes clean, dinner on the table, his favorite book next to his chair, the toys picked up and a bottle of wine ready after an especially long day. 

It seems like a very small thank you in return for all he does for us. 

(But I did sneak him some chocolate in the form of his F-150 on Valentine's Day. That seemed like a farmer-appropriate gift. And this truck didn't even have two dogs in the back or manure on the tires!)

I try to tell him this on a routine basis, but I really, truly am thankful for all he does. From cows to chicken coops, from black and white Labs to black and white Holsteins, from soybeans to oats to corn, from planting to harvest, from Cat wheel loaders to Deere silage choppers, to taking care of my large pregnant self to reading to our daughter, he packs a lot of life into each day and he does it selflessly for us.

As wonderful as flowers are, my farmer's care for us -- at his own expense -- is at the top of my thank-you list. 

And I suspect at the top of the cows' list too. :)