Man, has winter hit us like a ton of bricks. Over the weekend it started to snow, and the cold temps have insured that it's here to stay. Thankfully it's not too deep or too cold yet, but I'm certainly busting ice off the water trough every day for my old man.
He seems cozy and happy in his shelter. I'm still loving the Schneider Blanket I bought like 5 years ago, and it's still holding up well. Last night I packed his gear up into the truck and just need to hook up this afternoon. Taking off work early so I can get him there while it's still daylight! (It's dark by like 6:30 now).
His new barn is beautiful. I honestly feel like the owner is the perfect Type A personality, which just jives well with mine (I hope!). I mean, we're talking swept aisles, paddocks for each the body conditions of the horses, perfect hay stacks, labelled hooks everywhere. She just comes off as...exactly what I would be if I ran a barn lol. My house would be a disaster, but man that barn would be spotless ;)
I'm really really excited about this. I've been reading so much lately, from friends and the like, about how woman feel like they "lose themselves" once they have kids. Their world becomes their children, and their children's activities and needs and household chores and they wake up one day unhappy and feeling unfulfilled. It seems sometimes like we have this desire to be "perfect". And we have, maybe because of social media, or talking in the workplace, or who knows what, but this need to make our children's world "incredible". Like they need to be in all kinds of activities and we transport them around, and cheer and coach, and video tape, and do 12 competitions and shop for the coolest gear and devote our whole evening and weekends to their little lives.
I get it. I do. I really want my daughter (B) to try ballet and gymnastics and horseback riding and pony club and swimming and hockey and and and. But I agree with my husband, that all of that, doesn't come at the expense of simple, boring, unplanned family time. And husband and wife time.
I'm very fortunate that having B hasn't really changed the goings on of my life. My husband and I work opposite days (both during the day thankfully), and that means we avoid childcare. And even with that, I still go grocery shopping, and I still spend time out in the paddocks picking poo and harvesting the garden, and baking cookies, and playing games, and building horse feeders, and all my usual things. And in the evenings, I still go riding with my girlfriends. I still watch my TV. I still buy cow hides to tan in the garage over the winter.
I guess where I'm going with this, is that we need to choose how to balance our lives, and make sure that our own needs are in that balance. Moon at his new barn, is part of that for me.
Three nights a week, I plan on being riding. And I plan this for the entire winter (November to March). And not just this winter. Every winter. Until I'm old and retired and my horse lives in a fancy barn and I'm out riding him every day ;)
I want B to love horses, and I plan on bringing her to the barn on Sundays. I'm super excited because it'll be a warm, clean, friendly place to visit. I hope that as she grows, she falls in love with horses too. She already points and laughs and calls out to them. She already gathers up all my adult riding books and flips through them pointing at the ponies.
Sorry, mom rave.
Anyway, I want this to be a part of our "norm". And I want it to be part of my norm. My selfish, self-involved time where I focus on what I need. And I want B to learn that that is okay and a good thing. That as she grows, she needs to choose to put herself first sometimes. Ahead of the laundry and the meals and sweeping the floors.
This afternoon, I start that process.
Bring on winter. My favourite time of year, because the only thing I need to do, is keep warm :)
Pic Spam...from an entire year... ;)
(Check out my (slowly built) shelter and tack room!)
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| Homemade Xcountry jumps! |
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| Hubs actually took a picture of us! (coerced ;) ). |
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| Schooling x-country with the local horse trials. |
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| New rig! |
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| Mr. Moon loads so well! One of our many haul out trips this summer! |
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| Our shelter/tack room. It's been a slow process (still not done), but it's got walls and a roof! In the spring, kick boards and finishing off the tack room! |
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| My pretty boy <3 |
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| Mr. Moon, warm and cozy as winter hits. |
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| Om nom nom. |
It sounds like a great plan!
ReplyDeleteI have no kids so maybe my opinion is irrelevant, but I feel like the balance you describe here is so important. I had a mom tell me once that I only think my husband is my true love because I don't have kids, and that once I do (not planning to) he will fade into the background. I thought that was such a sad statement. I remember grocery shopping with my mom, fondly. I remember being "bored" while my parents did things that were important to them. These days, I WISH I had time to be bored. I think the "mundane" part of childhood is lost and even discouraged these days, and I think it's a real problem! It's so refreshing to read your perspective on it. It sounds like everyone (husband, wife, AND daughter) will be happier and more well-rounded because of it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dom. The trend seems to be that my style of balancing life isn't "approved" and I get my share of eyebrows raised. Oh well. I think maybe keeping and teaching 1000 lb animals makes us a little more relaxed in life. One day I'll write about how I think if you raise a good pet, you probably raise good kids ;)
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