I will admit that we really do not watch a ton of television. It’s nice to sit down to a rerun of “Fixer Upper” while I fold what seems to be 50 million loads of laundry, and my husband uses TV to unwind after a long day of farm work. We have our favorite shows, as do many of you reading this. But we decided that we wanted to turn it off for the summer.
We are taking every opportunity this summer to spend quality time together as a family. You might be thinking since we are farmers that we get plenty of time together, and we do. However, a good portion of our time is working side by side. While we are most certainly making memories and building strong relationships within our family, we want more.
The past month, we have been focusing on having friends and family over for dinner, playing board games we enjoyed as kids, and just taking time to get off the farm as a family.
We are ending our days together just talking and being present with each other instead of tucking the kids in just to stare at the television until bedtime.
While I wholeheartedly believe we really did not spend “too much” time watching television, I feel like the time we have been given should be spent cultivating memories and relationships with those who mean the most.
At the end of the day, we are not promised tomorrow. What would my children remember most if I was gone tomorrow? The rerun of “Fixer Upper” we watched together or the time we built a damn to “swim” in the muddy creek water? Will they be happy to look back at watching “Paw Patrol” for the 7 millionth time or the time we grew our very first garden together? I get it moms, sometimes we just need some space and “Paw Patrol” saves the day.
Been there. Which is why the kids have times where they separate and go to their rooms to read a book, play Legos, or really whatever their interest is by themselves. Everyone gets a break, and this is something that has always worked really well for our family.
Will we watch the occasional movie? Yes. Will we visit the drive-in? Yes, largely because it’s a neat experience that most don’t have the privilege of doing anymore. Will be build an outside movie theater to host friends/family once a month for “Movie on the Farm”? It’s already in the works. Daily or even weekly use will however be a thing of the past.
I want to make every single moment of this very short life we live count. I want to know that I took every moment possible to build an amazing life with my family. And while my husband and I enjoyed snuggling up on the couch to watch our favorite shows on DVR, now we can talk, play Mancala (because he apparently likes having his butt kicked), or sit on the porch just to enjoy each other’s company. It’s amazing — even after nine years together we still don’t know everything about each other.
Here’s to a summer spent cultivating a life well-lived and making memories. ♡
Krista Stauffer is a wife, mother of three, and first-generation millennial dairy farmer. Krista works side by side with her husband and kids on their 140-cow dairy.
