Farm Equipment Ahead

I was helping Cowboy move tractors today and saw something that never fails to raise my blood pressure, first because it scares me and then it makes me mad!
I saw what very nearly was a head on collision caused by pure stupidity.

But I should start from the beginning.
When I help Cowboy move tractors I am in a pickup truck, with the hazard lights flashing, following him on the tractor, which is also decked out with lights and slow moving vehicle signs.
Nearly every time we move equipment down the road (and sometimes more than one incident per trip!) Someone decides they're in too much of a rush to wait any longer and will pass us not bothering to wait until it is safe!

I have seen oncoming traffic have to hit their brakes to avoid an accident and of course the driver who caused the incident just keeps going.
Its not just 4 wheeled vehicles that cause problems though! I once had a cyclist ride so close behind the truck that I couldn't see him in any of my mirrors! When I looked through my back window to find him he was close enough he could easily have grabbed the tailgate. If I had needed to hit my brakes for any reason he wouldve gotten a faceful of that tailgate! And then we were slowing to make a left turn, and clearly signalling this, and he goes flying by, very nearly hitting the front of the tractor!

People please, We're just trying to do our jobs.
When you pull these stunts you put everyone around you in danger.

SLOW DOWN. SAVE A LIFE.
It might be the life of my toddler, my husband, the other driver, me, or you.
PLEASE, PLEASE SLOW DOWN.

If you don't mind, Please share this. This is one post I'd really love to see go viral!

Welcome To Our Learning Farm

I haven't been doing much blogging lately as you've probably noticed. You've probably also noticed that most of my posts lately have been to direct you to a post on The Cloth Diaper Whisperer. Sorry about that, there hasn't been a lot of blog worthy things going on around here, and what posts do pop into my brain are cloth diaper related (I can't imagine why. ...) so I've submitted the to TCDW to earn points toward a gift card for more diapers. Funny how as a mother you can constantly be doing SOMETHING and yet if you are asked what you've been up to the inevitable response is "not much" or the more accurate "same song, second verse". Our days are filled with dishes, laundry, fussy babies, cooking and lots of coffee. But we wouldn't trade it for the world (ok, yeah, there's those moments you'd like to run screaming into the night, but you'd come back!) There's the special moments where you see your child growing and learning before your eyes. Those special grins. Sleepy cuddles. Moments like this one that I posted on Facebook yesterday:

Or this one, where it seems I've traded humming "I Walk The Line" or "Amazing Grace" for "Welcome To our learning farm, we've so much to show you!...".

But there's other moments too. Moments where you wonder if GOD really thought long enough before HE entrusted the life of this little person to you. Before I had kids, I was full of confidence! After all, I had babysat thousands of times, had younger siblings and had helped with foster kids! I had even taught preschool! But all that doesn't help with big questions like: when do you wean? 6 months? A year? 10 years? And once you've picked an age, HOW do you wean? Well obviously you have to start the baby on solid food before cutting them off nursing, and that opens a whole new can of worms! Pablum? Canned babyfood? Baby Led Weaning? Oh! Can he eat that? Of course in the midst of all this, jr is happily picking up whatever treasures the vacuum missed and blissfully eating those!

I try not to stress, really I do. And usually I'm fairly successful. But sometimes it gets to me. Sometimes I just want someone to hand me a step by step manual of how to raise this child. The child GOD has entrusted to my care. I guess, as long as I'm praying for wisdom, doing the best I know how, that'll just have to be enough. Tell you what though, I'm sure glad I've got Cowboy to lean on, because I often just don't feel strong enough, wise enough, to raise this little boy. I don't know how the women do it whose husbands work away from home or are no longer with us. I just can't imagine.

Well I better get busy, I'm supposed to help Cowboy move a tractor this morning and I need to get that load of diapers washing first. Enjoy a coffee for me ladies!

Come to think of it "learning farm" is kind of appropriate; Bubby is learning to be a good man, but I'm learning to be a good mom. Hmm. I might never hear that song the same again