We’ve been taking care of some maintenance around here this weekend. Mr. Fix-It’s been working on the vehicles after work in the garage the last couple weeks and the Cowboy has been upset that he had to go to bed and miss out. So the boys worked in some tool-time Saturday and Sunday.

We were watching one of those DIY shows the other day and a couple decided to be general contractor for their own “dream house” build. Neither one of them had ever so much as built a bookcase or changed the oil in their car. Their project was a disaster.

Building, fixing, repairing, creating…these are skills that are built through experience. Lots of experience.

You can read about them all you want…you can google it and watch YouTube videos and read about it on discussion forums–I’ve seen Mr. Fix-It use all of these avenues to learn about something new–but you’re never going to be good at it until you’ve done it. More than once. Every section of fencing on this farm is a testament to our journey of learning and experiencing. Each one is a little different, and a little better. {smile}

Which is why it’s so important to bring children along-side their parents in those day-to-day moments and show them how to do all the little daily things that make up LIFE. Let them be part of it with you! So often we don’t starting thinking about “experiences” until they are in high school, or getting ready for college, unless they are “fun” stuff, like traveling or vacations. Everyone wants their munchkins to experience DisneyLand, but do we spend as much time planning for the kiddos to experience changing the oil or belts in the car?

There are very few things we do around here that we don’t bring the crew along-side and teach as we go. They haven’t always been a big help (although they are more often than not!) and they haven’t always been a willing help (!) but they’ve been far more capable than I would have given credit for if we weren’t living this farm and homestead lifestyle, where there’s always something to be done.

So the fellas replaced a couple broken porch boards, while I broomed off all the porch furniture and spider-webby corners and washed up all the cushions and rugs. We use the front porch more in the Spring and Fall. In the Summer it’s too hot and we move to the back porch. They did some mowing, and some raking, and filled in some of our chicken dust-bathing holes. {smile}

They straightened up a few gates and stacked some firewood and cleaned up the garage and then we all piled into the truck to run over to a neighbor’s house and help trim up their sheep. Then they came home to their regular chores. When they went to bed on Saturday, the crew had all put in a full day–and enjoyed every minute of it!

Sunday the Cowboy was in a helpful mood, so I sent him out with his hammer to pound in all the nails on the porch. It’s getting a little weathered, so we’ve got some nails popping up here and there. What a racket! He thumped and pounded and whacked for a good 30 minutes, going up and down the porches looking for loose nails. About 5 minutes after he went out there, it was on the tip of my tongue to holler “stop all the pounding!” and I had to remember that I sent him out there! {smile}

Our children enjoy being helpful. Being useful. And for the most part, they enjoy working. Routine choring can get a little old and boring, but they’re always up for a “special” project or any farm-work that we all do together.

Do you have Fall home or garden work underway? 

We’ll have lamb harvest this coming Saturday, so we’ll have a full weekend. Then we’ll be focusing on getting the chickens settled in for winter housing. I hope the nice weather around here holds out. I’d like to fit some reading and sweet tea on the porch in at some point too! {smile} I’ve got a copy of The Samurai’s Tale on my nightstand to preview as a read-aloud for the crew. Are you familiar with it? The reviews were all over the place, but it fits with us doing a family unit study on Samurai and Japanese history this winter. If you have any good recommendations on that topic, I’d love to hear them!

See where I’m sharing this week…