~guest post by MRS

When Michele first asked me to be a regular guest blogger on her site, she asked me to focus on farming, food & parenting and how those topics connect with each other. That didn’t seem like a task that would be very hard to accomplish, especially since I had married into a farming family, we love to eat and we had just had our first child not even a year before. Obviously food, farming & family were going to be topics I was dealing with on a daily basis.

But lately I’ve been struggling.

I wasn’t able to be involved in planting season at all due to pregnancy complications and bedrest. I wouldn’t have been in the tractor planting or working ground, but I probably would have helped move equipment (by that I mean moving the farmer so he could move the equipment). I would have taken meals to HandyMan & his dad while they worked in the fields, I would have taken Blue to the field to catch a ride/nap in the tractor. I could have driven into town to get parts when the planter broke down, things like that, that seem small can really help when the farmer is working against a deadline (rain) to get the crops in. Instead I did nothing.

I can’t really write about food, because although we’ve been eating plenty, I haven’t been buying or cooking any of it. I have not done anything more than make toast or use the microwave in over 2 months. And I miss it. I had big plans for taking Blue to pick strawberries or blueberries, to help HandyMan in our garden and really enjoy the fresh fruits and vegetables that are available in Indiana during the summer, but so far that hasn’t happened. We’ve still been eating plenty of fruits and veggies, but it’s just not the same, having my mom buy them at the grocery store for us versus picking them fresh and enjoying them at their best. But I am thankful that we have the option to buy them at the store, because that is better than nothing!

Blue trying to be like Daddy.

As for parenting, that has been the hardest for me. Obviously I’m still Blue’s parent, but during the past 10 weeks our relationship has changed. Blue no longer comes to me when he needs something. He has learned that mommy is stuck on the couch and someone else has to refill his drink, change his diaper, prepare his meals, etc. Basically Blue wants me only when he wants to watch Elmo videos on YouTube (because the laptop & internet become your best friend when you’re on bedrest). And that’s just so sad to me. I had big plans for us this summer. I was looking forward to playing outside with Blue, taking him on walks or to the pool. I was looking forward to taking him to the park to play and watching him learn how to swing or go down the slide. It’s been hard to watch other people get to experience those things with Blue, but I’m glad that Blue isn’t missing out on those experiences.

I know that bedrest is just a short season in our lives and I know that before long I’ll be back to my “normal” activities – taking care of Blue, planning, shopping for & preparing our meals, and I’m sure I’ll be able to help when harvest rolls around. By that time our, hopefully full-term, healthy baby, will have arrived and I’ll be trying to figure out how to do all those things while chasing after a toddler and caring for an infant. But until that time comes I’m stuck on the couch, doing what I can to give our baby girl the time she needs to develop & prepare for life on the outside.