Why We Chose to Raise Our Kids on a Farm

I figured I had a decent idea of what we were getting into.

I'd taught Ag for years, and I'd wanted to be around animals since I was a little girl (zoologist first, then vet, until my own ag teacher talked me into teaching instead!). So when my husband and I started dreaming about acreage life, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. It's a big part of why we chose to raise our kids on a farm.

Then we actually did it, and I found out how much I didn't know.

Turns out wanting it and understanding it are two very different things.

Maybe you know the pull I'm talking about. You picture a different kind of childhood for your kids, slower, muddier, closer to the ground, and almost right away a little voice tells you that life belongs to other people. People who grew up with it. People who already know how.

Most of us tuck that kind of dream away under "someday" and never take it back out. It's easier, honestly nobody would blame you for it! But I don't think someday is where it has to stay.

Why We Chose to Raise Our Kids on a Farm — I Didn't Grow Up on One

Here's what surprises people most. I didn't grow up in agriculture at all.

Never drove a tractor.

Never raised livestock.

Never did real farm work until I met my husband.

My very first ag job was on a friend's dairy farm, where milking started at 3:45 in the morning (so maybe that's where the work ethic came from?!). Almost everything after that I had to teach myself, and a lot of it I learned the slow (and hard) way.

Belonging is built, not born.

I didn't have the background, I had the desire. And the wanting carried me a whole lot further than I ever expected.

The Apartment Years

After we moved up here, we lived in an apartment, and I spent years asking God for a piece of land with room for animals and babies. I meant it every single time.

When we finally bought our acreage, that first monthly payment genuinely scared me. We knew going in that the budget would be tighter, that was part of the deal. What I wasn't ready for was how many surprise expenses come with the farm life, and how they always seem to show up all at once!

I kept building my business through that whole season, on top of a full-time career, little ones who needed me, and a farm with a to-do list that never ended. Not because I wanted an easier life. I wanted the hard work to actually get us somewhere.

Most days I'm still chasing kids around the yard and playing farm hand for my husband, so if you're picturing something glamorous, you can let that go!

Something I lean on in seasons like that is pretty simple, I journal every morning to get my head right before the day starts. The scary stuff always looks a lot more like a a good plan once it's on paper!

The Part That Doesn't Make the Photos

People romanticize farm life. I absolutely did too.

One day my husband was out cleaning the barn before any of us were awake, and he didn't come back inside until 10 PM. He comes home from his job and heads straight outside until dark, and he still feels behind. (He's not on social media, so he'll never read this, but I'm SO thankful for him!)

Some of our days are 13 hours outside before we finally call it.

Working on the building.

Moving sheep.

Hauling hay.

Chasing kids in between all of it. 😵‍💫

And I'll be honest with you, there are moments I think about how much easier life would be if we didn't have livestock. I don't love admitting that one!

But I also know that as these kids grow, there's no place we'd rather be.

Why We'd Choose It Again

My son is perfectly happy to sit and watch the animals, or watch his dad on anything with wheels. He loves equipment and livestock exactly like his daddy does.

A couple of weeks ago I found him up on a gate petting a sheep, while my daughter came over holding a bouquet of dandelions for me.

A boy on a gate.

A sheep who didn't mind one bit.

A fistful of yellow flowers headed my way.

I'd freeze these days in time if I could.

I still think about watching my baby walk through the alfalfa and feeling completely overwhelmed by it. That's the picture I carried around in that apartment, long before any of it was real.

And we're not done! Over the next five years we're hoping to grow from 35 ewes to 180, and I'm going to need a LOT more energy for that!

Before You File It Under Someday...

If you're holding a dream for your family that looks nothing like the way you grew up, I want you to hear this from someone who did It firsthand.

Not growing up with it doesn't disqualify you. It just means you'll always know why you chose it, and possible have a few more hurdles to get there.

For us it took patience, baby steps, and more hard work than I could ever fit in one post, and every bit of it was worth it!

If you want somewhere to put your own someday on paper, I made a free confidence workbook for exactly that. It's full of journal prompts, including one for naming the fear that's been holding you back and the first small step past it, plus affirmations and a daily journal page you can keep coming back to! Whatever your dream looks like, it deserves more than a crumpled up note in a junk drawer 💗

Love,

Breanna