CJ talks this week about what it's like to have kids on the farm and what that means for both mother and children. She covers having kids doing chores and the good and bad of the life cycle. She also talks about how her children have coped with both seeing life come into the world and the opposite end - watching animals die. Kids can be very resilient, much more so than most people give them credit for. Helping children understand the unchanging cycle of life, things are born and everything dies eventually, has improved her children's coping mechanisms at school and in sports.

Sometimes farming and motherhood is hard, but motherhood is hard anyway so you just have to pick your version of hard. Working full-time is hard, farming is hard and being a single mum was hard. But the benefits that come from homesteading with kids outweigh all the "hard".

Knowing that my children understand where their food comes from and the process to get food to the table is going to serve them well in life. Given what I have been learning about how high-carb, cereal-based diets are damaging our kid's learning abilities and mental health, I am also glad that this lifestyle has given them an appreciation for a meat-based diet. I know they will have great health and resilience and that will make all the hard work worth it.