Born in a Barn; or Don’t Run With Pitchforks By Deanna Doctor I always knew I wanted to be a mother and that I always wanted a family, but like many things that I've done in my life, I never put too much thought into it. When I found myself pregnant with my first child, I was into year four of owning a restaurant, and all I remember thinking is "how do you raise a baby around all the deep fryers? Seems a little dangerous, no?” It had never even occurred to me that I could put my unborn child into a daycare or have a babysitter, I just knew that I wanted to raise them like I was raised; at home surrounded by my wild brother and sisters and busy mom and dad. Fast forward some months later, the stars aligned and my husband, my pregnant self, and my parents all moved to PEI to get back into the world of dairy. My daughter Olivia was born in November and three days later she had her first day of work in the barn. In the last five years all three of my kids have spent the first month of their lives in the barn with me, sleeping in a crib in the office during milking, or if fussy they would ride along on the milk cart as their Pepe and I moved it down the alley. As the babies grow, different challenges have arisen. They have become very accustomed to walks from our house over to the farm. The farmyard is also their Nana and Pepe's home. We all know what a beautiful place a grandparent’s home can be. Less rules and more treats can make for a very tempting opportunity to break out of the house and walk over unsupervised. Thankfully it is just a walk across the cow pasture, but we have had to remind the older two, many times, that you cannot just leave the house to go to the barn or Nana's. And that is just one of our many rules. It is incredible the number of rules you have when toddlers roam free around a farm. They know very well; at the sound of a dump truck or tractor they are to stand on the grass and start waving. We have all instilled this into their
brains on the off chance they are alone in the yard when someone pulls up. You really need to be prepared for anything. We have also been teaching that we do not run with pitchforks. They have gotten broken pitchforks, and my husband has sanded the wooden end down and ground the tips, so they are not sharp. They also know to stand in the centre alley when we are feeding out of the feed cart, and to not jump across the gutter between two cows to come talk to me during milking. I may be a little too liberal on what my kids are allowed to do on the farm, but it is very monkey-see monkey-do. They each have their own shovels and wheelbarrows to help clean the feeding allies, of which they are each given a section to do, and I expect them to be cleaned. Their sense of pride and responsibility when completing a job is pretty incredible. They have a few cows that they are allowed to wash and put milkers on, they help push piles of straw for bedding and (my personal favourite) they empty the water buckets for the calves and refill them after feeding. Raising them constantly in the barn with me also has some very funny sides to it. Olivia being in kindergarten, we were discussing words that start with ‘P’, and placenta was one of the first words she could think of. I like to think this conversation stayed at home, but I cannot guarantee she didn't recommend placenta as the ‘P’ word in class the next day. If Jackson can find a Ziplock bag laying around the house, I promise you that he will put it on his hand, lower his voice an octave and say "yaaa, I just need to breed this cow later," and will walk off looking for his coveralls. Olivia has learned to ride her bike with no training wheels in the barn, Jack has become the master of running around with his wheelbarrow, and Rizzo is exceptional at keeping everyone on their toes. As much as I like to pat myself on the back, thinking I am so great at balancing running a farm and raising my kids, I do
42 MARCH / MARS 2022 Canadian Jersey Breeder / Eleveur de Jersey Canadien
know that I am incredibly lucky. Not only do I usually have the option of sending the kids to Nana's when we have too much work to do or the kids are cranky, my husband is also more than willing to drop them off in the barn if they want to come over, and to pick them up early if I know it will be a long day. Raising kids on the farm really does take a village, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
