Are you lucky to be living on a farm?

[birderPK]

Is it just a routine to be living on a farm? Or more appropriately, do you believe you are stuck in this life?

OR... You think you are lucky to be living this life?

More importantly, are your kids happy with it? your kids actually enjoy it or feel differently?



So, why do I ask this....

I am planning to sell my expensive house in a nice neighborhood and buy a farm in suburbs. I have two kids ages 3 and 1. My wife is quite ok with this thought... but I am not sure what my kids would feel growing on a farm, or when they grow up, they might feel the are stuck with this farmers life.


Forgive me for my lack of appropriate vocabulary, since I am not a native English speaker.

 

[prostar]

Some kids grow up loving it, other kids grow up yearning for the city. Honestly, they're 3 and 1, if you can do it now, do it since then you won't have to worry about changing schools and all that.

 

[dekel18042]

Is it just a routine to be living on a farm? Or more appropriately, do you believe you are stuck in this life?

OR... You think you are lucky to be living this life?

More importantly, are your kids happy with it? your kids actually enjoy it or feel differently?



So, why do I ask this....

I am planning to sell my expensive house in a nice neighborhood and buy a farm in suburbs. I have two kids ages 3 and 1. My wife is quite ok with this thought... but I am not sure what my kids would feel growing on a farm, or when they grow up, they might feel the are stuck with this farmers life.


Forgive me for my lack of appropriate vocabulary, since I am not a native English speaker.

Welcome. I wouldn't live anywhere else. I grew up here and so did my kids. Depending on your area, farms can be the working kind or just rural acreage. Also, farms can be isolated or very close to hubs of activity. We're lucky enough that our area is rural but a fifteen minute drive will get you to shopping, schools, drs., etc.
Yet in our neighborhood people can have all kinds of poultry including roosters, turkeys, emus, peacocks and cattle, goats, horses, sheep and donkeys, so we sort of have the best of both worlds.
Your children are young and they should find much to do growing up on a farm.

 

[snow5164]

How far from the main city would you be? At this age your kids will learn so much from
Country living, from nature ( birds, flowers, trees and even bees) but as they grow the problems I saw in my country cousins is that they wanted to be with their friends at the movies or pizza place, this is many years away for you !!you also must remember that we often want what we don't have, country vrs city life. My two years on 10 acres has been like a holiday with lots of chores, but we are also 10 minutes from town and shops.
Good luck with this decision.

 

[b.hromada]

I haven't grown up on a farm, but my husband did. His family had a small dairy farm in upstate New York. I just love to hear the stories he tells. I'm a city girl, but how I'd love to have a small farm someday. We've got 8 kids, with the youngest one being 16. I think if you'd ask them, they'd find it great! You children are small, I'm sure they would get used to it, I know my hubby did. Enjoy it and have fun! By the way, welcome to BYC, so glad you joined us!

 

[Michael OShay]

I grew up on a farm and lived most of my life on farms and wouldn't trade for farm life. My wife, children, and I used to have a really nice 10 acre farm in northeast Texas but eventually had to sell it and move to California for employment reasons. I have been retired for the past 6 years now and are currently in the process of selling our home in Hawaii and buying a farm in northwest Montana. I love being able to raise all the animals I want to and grow all the fruits and vegetables I love. Farm life is a wonderful experience for children as well.

 

[prostar]

California and Hawaii to Montana....my friend, prepare for climate shock! It is gorgeous up there though!)

 

[wamtazlady]

My grandson visits us for 3 weeks every summer. He'd spend the whole summer here if his mom would allow that. He spends his days happily doing chores. He feeds, waters, and hays the rabbits, he feeds and waters the goats, the geese, the ducks, the pigs, the horses, the chickens, and then milks the goats. For 3 weeks the kid is busy and happy. In this day and age when parents don't let their kids out of the yard, my grandson has 70 acres to roam over. This year we even had a slaughter afternoon and processed 10 roosters so he learned how to kill and gut a chicken. The neighbor kids can be seen daily working their animals for 4H or FFA. In a month they will be showing and selling their animals at the county fair.

On the other hand, I grew up in the big city. I do sometimes miss the easy access to concerts and museums. However, I love it here where we are country but still less than 10 minutes from town.

 

[Michael OShay]

California and Hawaii to Montana....my friend, prepare for climate shock! It is gorgeous up there though!)

LOL! Thanks for the warning. We've lived in harsh winter climates before so we're well aware of it. ) The other place we were seriously considering buying a farm was Alaska (we've been there a number of times and love it), but economic considerations have made us choose Montana instead. We were having problems selling our place for enough money to pay off our mortgage and have enough cash left over to easily buy a farm outright in Alaska. We can purchase a similar sized farm in NW Montana for $55,000 less than in Alaska and the cost of living index is 22% less in Montana that Alaska so we were able to drop the price on our place in Hawaii. It seems to have paid off as our realtor is bringing an offer on the house over this afternoon for us to sign. If everything goes well with the signing we will be putting in our own offer on that Montana farm in the next day or two.

 

[snow5164]

So excited for you, we've been in the country just two years and I'd never want to go back. The fresh air and peace and quiet is so relaxing.i was always jealous of my country cousins now ones in Toronto and ones in Winnipeg!!big cities ,no room for cows and chickens there!!