It takes a smart kid to recognize one of the best cuts and best values in the meat case...pork loin!

Yes, on some undetermined day far out in the future I’ll tell him that most four year olds weren’t able to identify a pork loin, where it comes from on the hog or share several meal ideas (chops, roast, kabobs, stir fry, fajitas, strips for salad) from that cut.  I might tell him that he was unusually enthusiastic about the opportunity to carry it through the store.  I might casually mention that “promoting pork” (that’s what he says I do) isn’t a super common job in other social circles. 

I might also tell him that most people don’t let their yard get as tall as ours.  It’s not that we don’t care, we’ve just been busy running a bigger tractor helping my dad get ready to plant corn.  Maybe I’ll justify that we tried to save fossil fuels by mowing less for Earth Day.  I’ll probably also tell him to be leary of all these companies claiming to be earth friendly because it’s trendy and the thing to do.  

If he keeps his mind set on farming most of his waking time as he grows I’ll make sure he learns a lot about taking care of the environment every day of the year.  I wonder if we’ll be eating pork during that conversation?

We found a farm birthday party activity that John Deere lovers, Case IH enthusiasts, New Holland fans or whatever brand you cheer for can put aside their differences and truly enjoy…a corn pit!

Kids enjoying playing in corn that is typically used to feed pigs, cows and poultry.

This is our second year to make a cornpit in the garage. I have to admit up front that we got this idea from a friend and then implemented it ourselves.  We just borrowed 9 bales of straw (put them around the edge to form a square), bought a tarp (and wrapped it under the straw) and borrowed some corn from papa. We will return all of the straw and most of the corn.

Everybody that accepted the rule “No throwing corn” thoroughly enjoyed the party.

This is a perfect area to put farm toys in action!

We gave out little John Deere toy tractors as party favors and my mom made cakes. She used about six boxes of cake mix.

That's actually a pile of Oreo's. This was my favorite cake!

She worries about people going hungry.

That's chocolate she put in the mold. What would a Little Farmer's party be without multiple references to John Deere?

I worry about people having properly cooked protein.

This is the kind of meal people remember...properly cooked pork! Yes, I used a meat thermometer and took it off the grill at about 140 degrees.

I don’t think these kids worried about much of anything with abundant entertainment and beautiful weather!

This is ridiculous, but the Little Farmer did really enjoy them.

It was some federal holiday when the big girls at the babysitter were home from school, but my office was open.   So my Little Farmer dictated a story and one of the big girls wrote and illustrated it.

"I love pigs" no way, me too!

I’m not surprised that his first book was about pigs.  I’m not even surprised that at the mere age of three he hit most of the key messages that I strive to share with the non-farming public about pigs.

-I’m speechless…

Within moments I began to second guess him…is a three year old really capable of this high level of work?  So I asked the babysitter if he really said the words that were written on the page, or did her daughter “polish” it up.

She laughed at me.  She said, my girls don’t know that stuff.

Read closely and you’ll notice the confusion about whether to call them pigs or hogs.  We have the same confusion trying to figure out what to call the people who raise swine.  It’s been so hard to choose between pig farmer, hog farmer, or pork producer that we scrapped them all and recently went to bacon farmer, ham farmer and pork chop farmer.  It takes special talent in a toddler to recognize the depth of struggles that their parent faces on a regular basis just trying to do a job.

Note the internal dilemma whether to call them pigs or hogs. It's so nice to have somebody understand you struggles!

It was honestly one of my proudest parenting moments yet.  I knew I changed all those dirty, smelly diapers for a reason.  Aren’t you excited also?

Four years ago tonight I was pregnant and twelve days overdue.  The baby daddy and I had wrapped up loose ends, avoided starting new projects and prepared to leave for the hospital at a moment’s notice multiple times.  It was a Wednesday evening. 

Labor started.  I called Mark to tell him.  There was a pause, and then he responded, clearly in the middle of lengthy task, “This is not a good time for me, I’m trying to feed the cows.”

I’m writing to share this special memory, hopefully a laugh, and to share a lesson I’ve observed many times.  I believe that the core of who we really are comes out in quick, unplanned responses.  There’s no arguing Mark cared about family, but he also took the responsibility to care for his cows as a farmer very seriously, thus his response. 

That was the first unpolished, candid thought that rolled off his lips as I’m sure the rest of his body was in motion working.  He was probably using a pitch fork to move silage (shredded up corn used as feed), carrying buckets of kernels of corn or ground feed, counting calves, moving bales of hay or shaking up straw to give them a warm, dry place to lay down.  These were daily tasks for him.  He was so comfortable and familiar with the responsibility that without question it defined a big part of who he was.  That’s typical of most all of the farmers I’ve met.

The next morning I remember being at the hospital (still in labor) and his phone was ringing about one of his heifers that was also in labor trying to have a calf.  She was having trouble.  I remember my mom having a kid versus calf talk with him.

Now I think his first response to my call is really funny.  I’ll also say that in his short time on earth with his son he clearly cared very deeply for the kid. 

What we do and how we act each day shapes who we are.  I’m proud that Mark was a person, father, husband and farmer who deeply cared.