Life as a Working Farm Mom: How I Do It All

Balancing Life as a Working Farm Mom Step 1: I don’t. The End.

Okay, so maybe I should go into a little more detail, but that is the main idea here. Often I get comments saying I do so much and asking how I do it all. So, I just want to clear it up: I DON’T do it all. It isn’t possible. Some days I spread myself too thin and I get a little bit of everything done, but not to the best of my ability. Some days I feel like I only did one role really well while the others were all shoved to the side. Life as a working farm mom means I am a wife, mom, dairy farmer, housekeeper, home chef, and blogger. If I think for a few more minutes, I could probably add a few more to that list. I love each of those roles. The only problem is that I CAN’T do them all at the same time!

Life Analogy: Juggling Plastic and Glass Balls

I read an analogy by Nora Roberts one time that I have never forgotten and apply pretty much every day of my life. Someone asked Roberts during a Q&A how she balanced writing and kids and she said the key to juggling is knowing that some balls you have in the air are made of plastic and others are glass. If you drop a plastic ball, it just bounces, no harm done. However, if you drop a glass ball, it shatters. The key is knowing which is which and to prioritize catching the glass ones.

Frankly, the balls that I let drop most of the time come with the housework: laundry, sweeping, cleaning. They don’t get done every day and I prioritize my family, cows, and sanity over the state of the house. The housework becomes something that is done when I can find the extra energy and the motivation.

Tips and Tricks that Do Help

Of course, there are some tips, tricks, and routines that I implement as a working farm mom that help me keep my sanity. They also help me get more done.

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1 – My Amazing Husband (and how we divide our responsibilities)

Of course I can’t do it alone! I have a wonderful husband that helps in whatever ways he can. We have found that house chores work better when each person has some of their own responsibilities and then we work together on others. Cody is in charge of the pets, his own laundry, and cleaning up after I cook supper. I do the kids’ laundry, grocery shop and cook supper. The rest of the stuff we do at the same time or take turns with. The kids are now getting old enough that they hang around well with whichever parent is home and we try to communicate schedules well enough that we both get our responsibilities done.

2 – A Wonderful Village

While we are a farming family, we still send our kids to daycare. We have an amazing team of ladies that teach the kids during the day so we don’t have to worry about them being in harm’s way while we are on the farm. Our parents also live near us so when we have late nights in the fields or covering silage piles, the kids can hang out there when they get tired of the trucks and tractors. Each person that touches the kids’ lives has taught them amazing things and I wouldn’t be able to do life without them!

3 – A Meal Plan

Okay, so to a few more practical tips. Meal planning is one of the ways I manage to stay sane in the evenings. My house might not be the cleanest, and the kids might be running around crazy, but at least they are fed. Well… offered food. I have found a great way to keep everything organized and that is in the Paprika Recipe Manager app. Read all about how I use it here. I also share all of my meal plans with recipe links in my weekly newsletter. You can get it straight to your inbox if you just subscribe!

4 – Meal Prep

The schedule that comes with farm life can be CRAZY. I might plan on having an hour to cook supper, and it only ends up being 15 minutes. Then when we get home, the kids are needing my attention for this and that and I barely get a moment to think straight. Therefore, meal prepping is a must. Most days I am home for lunch break so I prep anything that can be made ahead for that night’s supper. Usually browning hamburger, putting a whole casserole together, or chopping up veggies. Crockpot meals are also a favorite as I don’t have an insta pot.

Not home for lunch? Prep the night before. I have done this on occasion. So while I am cleaning up supper, I am prepping the next one. Then I just do all the dishes at once! At this point in time the kids are usually satisfied and are playing or watching tv so they don’t need my immediate attention like they do right when we get home.

5 – Set a Schedule

Ugh… I would like to say I am really good at setting boundaries to help balance working farm mom life, but I could always be better. It helps that we set a weekly schedule on the farm and stick to it as much as possible. Everyone knows who is responsible for what and when. I do chores at 4am three mornings a week and I feed cows every night. After I am done feeding cows, I go home, even if there are others around still working on projects. This means I can get home at 5pm to switch to mom mode. Granted, this is harder to stick to in the summertime with all the extra field work, but we try!

6 – Write Stuff Down!

This one should be a given. What all busy moms need to do is write stuff down, else we can’t keep it all straight! I have a planner I put things in (check it out and get 10% off here!), but I also use the notes and reminders apps on my phone daily! If I don’t write it down right away, I will forget to do it. If it is important enough, I will even set an alarm.

7 – Find Some “Me Time”

Finally, after all of this, the only way I am ultimately able to stay sane is to find some “Me Time.” However, there REALLY isn’t a lot of room for it, so lately my “me time” consists of listening to podcasts and audiobooks while in a tractor or skid loader. I find things to listen to that make me feel motivated, validated, and sometimes just take me to a different world. (Harry Potter audiobooks have been on my list lately!)

I listen to all my audiobooks on the Hoopla app through our local library and here are some of my favorite podcasts:

Try Then Try Again

Even with all these tips, I won’t ever get the working farm mom thing perfectly right. Erin on Instagram as @themommingworker explained it in one of her recent posts. “There is never a perfect balance. There is no work-life balance … only work-life choices and I try to make the best choices every day. Some days/weeks/months are better than others.”

So on the bad days, I (try to) give myself some grace and try to do better next time. On the good days, I try to notice what worked well. In the end, we don’t always have control over every situation, we just make the best out of what we have.

What are some of your best working mom tips?