Going Beyond the Gravel Road

Last weekend the Hadrick’s traveled to the biggest town in SD. The 4 hour drive is well worth the experience but one we rarely do. Just going to the big town can be very overwhelming for our small town kids. We had lots planned, some family fun, birthday celebration meal, shopping for both boys and girls and a bit of swimming planned.  

Every time Cowboy and I take the kids our of our small environment I’m reminded why it’s a good thing we get them out! Don’t get me wrong, I love our small town, I never have to worry about my kids, someone is always watching out for them, they all feel safe and secure. We never lock our doors- to our house or cars, even if they are parked on main street. T starts Jr. High this year and his locker won’t have a pad lock, it can if we want, but there’s no need.  We’re very sheltered and I love it. 

It’s reality that my kids lack exposure to diversity, of any kind. We don’t have different cultures, race(not really), or hear a language they don’t understand. It’s very exciting to see people who dress different then we do, there is amazement that we can choose from 100’s of different places to eat, that there are many stop lights on one street and that we have to wait for traffic. Keep in mind our county doesn’t have a stop light. 

It took me a while to figure out why Miss R was underfoot the entire shopping day. It drove me crazy tripping over her. It finally occurred to me that she was scared of all the people. The big town has too much going on and although I feel secure in Sioux Falls, she doesn’t. It’s not like when we’re in Washington DC and I’m wanting the kids close.  It was a great lesson for me to remember that we have to continue to help the kids appreciate experience of all the different people.  

As a mom I am thankful to feel the security of our small town. It may lack in conveniences but it makes up in safety and in this day and age, I can take that.  So, we’ll continue to go and visit. But nothing will ever beat turning off the paved road onto our gravel one. 

Wheat Harvest Widow

Well it’s that time of year again- harvest has began.  In agriculture every year we experience the same things- it’s a cycle… Wheat harvest is the first of the harvests and seems to always catch me by surprise. 

I grew up in agriculture and I understand there are busy times of the year and not as busy times of the year.  Harvest time is one of the very busy times on the farm. When it’s time to harvest, there is an extreme urgency to get the crop in.  Everything else stops, doesn’t matter what’s going on, it stops.  Long hours and shorter tempers usually surround the event. 

As a Farmer, I revel in the beauty of the crop and the joy and sense of accomplishment of harvest. It’s the reward for hard work and perseverance and although we don’t do it enough, we do try to at least have a small celebration at the completion of each crop harvested. Which sometimes is just a home cooked meal and a bottle of wine. 

As a Wife and a Mom, I hate harvest!  The world doesn’t stop turning for the kids and I during harvest.  It keeps going, but access to My Cowboy stops.  We go to bed without seeing him, eat our meals without him, work 4-H livestock without his important help, and try to be on our best behavior when he’s home because we know he’s tired. There- I’ve complained enough! 

So as a farm family, we try to make the most of it, riding in the truck with him, waiting as long as we can before we eat supper at night, praying for rain so he’s around to help. 

This year I tried really hard to prepare myself for harvest. About the second week of July, I figured that we were 3 weeks out. I kept telling myself that. Yet, I signed Cowboy & I up for a golf tournament for end of July.  The morning of he said to me, ‘Now, we’re starting wheat harvest today and I’m probably not going to be able to golf.’ I only golf with him, since I really suck at golf I don’t subject any one else to my horrible playing.  Let’s say that Cheryl was a wonderful partner and the two hits I made to help us out was very appreciated. ugh.

We’re all counting down the days until Wheat Harvest is done. Knowing that our days until soybean harvest starts are numbered. But we're thankful to have crops harvest. 

Celebrating National School Lunch Week

To celebrate National School Lunch week, I had school lunch with the girls.

Waiting in Line

I've talked about school lunch before and my concerns about the lack of protein and calories that our children are getting.  Since my last post (School Lunch Changes...) I've talked to many people in our school system, other parents and the kids who eat the lunch. For this post I am going to break down my lunch observations for this day. I plan to share the information I've gathered from my discussions in a different post soon.

The girls were thrilled I was joining them again for lunch. I picked a random day that worked for my schedule last week- Wednesday. The younger kids start lunch at 11:15. The menu: popcorn chicken, broccoli, fruit, milk & juice. Bread was also served with the meal.   Each child was asked if they would like broccoli and bread with their meal. They were not given a choice if they wanted fruit but what fruit they wanted: apricots or pineapple both from a can.  Observing the 8 kids in front of me none of them knew what apricots were- all took pineapple. They also could have juice and milk, that must be to get the full servings of fruit.

My Trey

I counted that 4 out of 25 in Miss O's class took broccoli and 5 out of 21 in Miss R's class tried the vegetable.  My girls didn't take the vegetable, at home they always eat broccoli. (In fact last year Miss R identified broccoli as her favorite food on her pre-school questionnaire- I achieved a Mom of the Year star). As you can see from my trey- I took the broccoli.  I love broccoli and there was cheese on it- bonus! Except there was no taste to the vegetable.  The girls informed me that they had tried the broccoli in the past and that is why they wouldn't make the mistake of taking it again.  As I forced myself to eat it, I kept thinking this would taste better if I had salt.  I had remembered one student I talked to being upset about not having salt to put on things anymore. She was going to start bringing her own to school to use.  Salt is the new bootleg item at school?

My Trey....Miss O's Trey

This picture gives you the comparison of my trey and Miss O's. She did take the bread, which according to the teacher is very popular item with the kids.

As I look at these treys, I don't see how this is promoting kids to eat more fruit and vegetables.  Miss O's trey was very representative of the others on her table. So, the kids are not getting filled on protein and are simply not taking all the fruits and vegetables offered so bottom line is they are going hungry.

Miss O ate all her food.  I could not choke down all of my broccoli but did eat the rest. By the time the kids got out of school that day I was starving. I now understand how come my kids come through the door ready to have a snack before we have our evening meal.

Go have school lunch and see what our kids are eating. We've got to stand up for them and let the ones who are making these rules in Washington DC know that their meals are leaving our kids short and being full is the cornerstone to learning.