I love the weekends when I have the boys over- LE doing what all 19 year olds do, (Snapchat, Xbox, texting, and whatever else keeps his eyes glued to his phone- I’m afraid to know) Xander is usually right on his heels- following in his footsteps.

I don’t like to bother them with farming tasks- I always hoped it would be something they would naturally grow in to, sort of the way I did. But the more years that go by, and the older I get, I realize that they need to start taking more of an active role around here. They need to be ready to step up when I’m no longer able to do what it takes to keep this place running.

I used to ask for help- no luck. Later I began to offer a weekly allowance- nope. I’ve even told them that girls dig guys who love animals..... that got their attention but it was short lived. Nothing seemed to be working.

Now I’m no doctor but I’ve been trying to use reverse psychology on them. I constantly show them (okay, I force them to read) messages and comments that folks put on our animal videos- reminding them how blessed we are. Letting them know not to take this lifestyle for granted. Hoping that by them seeing how many people from around the world would love to spend a day doing what we are privileged to do, then maybe they will learn to appreciate the farm, the animals, the land. Maybe they will see that life is more than YouTube and Fortnite..... but, to no avail. At some point I had to just man-up and demand they do their part- you all know how it goes.... “as long as you eat here, as long as you sleep here....” the same speech we all heard from our parents growing up.

And so they go to work (if you can even call it that) LE in his flip-flops, at least Xander take time to put on his boots. They drag around, taking their sweet time, constantly checking their phones like they are wall street brokers or something. Making me hate the fact that I even asked them to help in the first place and making me realizing it would be easier to just do it myself- their sinister plan all along, I’m sure.

Folks, I present to you what I’m calling:

City Slickers vs The Bigs: Feeding Time!