Mental Health?

[Lunachick]

Seminole - Let us know when your daughter starts asking you for advice on raising chickens, I'll bet that happens down the road!

Then she'll understand your mental state.

I need my chickens!

 

[LynnGrigg]

Count me in with the chicken obsessed crazy folks. I'm obsessive with hobbies too. I refuse to agonize over my obsessions! Have a nice day!

 

[Chellester]

Chickens are great therapy. I didn't realize how much so until I got them again after a 20+ year absence. Just the simple tasks of taking care of them is wonderful for stress relief and getting myself centered again. And there's something about seeing them scratching around in the yard that always brightens my day.

I have a family member with anxiety disorders who got into chickens about the same time I did. He started out with a couple OEGB roos, then got some hens. A couple of them went broody so now he's got as many as I do. When I see him, its always fun to talk about our chickens.

 

[Chickadee28]

I wrote a post similar to this last week. I don't have my chicks yet, it took months of negotiations. In all seriousness, I have battled depression since my son was born. My youngest was born with complex heart defects, the past two years have been a little rough. I find myself picking up new hobbies to occupy my thoughts. DH was assuming this was unhealthy. I and my therapist convinced him that it is ok to try new things, if they work out great, if not than you tried something new. I feel somewhat differently about animals, I would not discard them because they were a pain or became disinterested. Which, has not happened. My animals are my therapy... I volunteer at the local shelter, there is nothing better than walking and spending time with homeless animals. I feel a sense of peace when I leave there. The animals love you unconditionally, and unlike most people they appreciate your efforts to bring them some comfort.

DH does get comments from others on the amount of pets we have. I feel bad that people say things to him about it. They would not bother saying anything to me

I feel like I take great care of my kids, my house and my pets. I try to live with purpose and understanding of others, I just wish people would do the same in return. Most of my "friends" try to live the picture perfect life. I can tell you once you find out what is going on behind closed doors.... These are the same people who think I am a little off for wanting chickens.

I am done listening to how others think I should live my life. I feel the need to go back to a simpler way of life. We are going to garden, compost and recycle. I am learning how to sew and can foods. My kids will know what it is like to have chores and responsibility. If that makes my mental status come in to question than so be it.

 

[jeaucamom]

Quote:
hsm5grls, I will deliver them for you if you can find them. She is only a few hours from me and I wouldn't mind at all. I am also a nurse with a back problem, sounds like we would have a lot to talk about and I would love to play Santa. Let me know, Suz

 

[HenHaven]

I have always gotten into my hobbies whole-hog as well! I was a city girl all my life, and now I have my 2.5 acres in the foothills and 16 chickens. I am in heaven.

As Sandra said, chickens ARE my therapy, and my car proudly sports the bumper sticker to announce it to the world! As a funny side note, I am an RN and have worked in the psychiatirc setting my whole career. My coworkers chuckle at my chicken stories, and buy my extra eggs! I like to share the concept that enjoying the simple things in life can bring you the greatest joy!

 

[arlee453]

To Dawn regarding the post 3 above this one....

Your post brought me to tears. We've been dealing with a lot of crap from my husband's family lately. They all think I'm nuts because I have animals, I nursed my last baby more than 2 years, we chose not to circumcise our boys (primarily my DH's decision as he saw the procedure in nursing school and came home to say 'we will NEVER do that to our child unless he has a serious medical problem') and because our house is usually messy (4 kids, what do you expect??).

I had to forward what you wrote to my husband - it really sums up my feelings with what is going on in my life right now too.

Just had to say thanks for putting it so well. I'm sure there are a lot of us who get flack from others because we choose a non-conventional way of life.

Hang in there sister!

 

[seminolewind]

just remember, it's not obsessive, its passionate!

Chickadee28-I'm sorry about your depression, I know how it is, chronic depression runs in my family, Grandmother, mother , us 3 sisters, and hope not, but possibly my daughter one day. I am just grateful that I have been depression free for 2 years now with meds, yipee! That's why my DH just worries about me when I'm down. Very few people know what its like to have no passion for anything, and , any attempt to do anything is overwhelming, which may include talking , answering the phone, getting out of bed, any ADL's that most people take for granted.
My daughter is one of the not understanding, and I can't even tell her that her daughter to mother neediness is just too overwhelming at times, even tho it's normal.
I never expected this thread to be so supportive, Thankyou all

 

[seminolewind]

Dawn, I can understand what you go thru with a baby born with heart defects; I am a Neonatal nurse. It's devastating, and with all the testing, the wait and see is awful. I do the best I can to be supportive, maybe you could give me some ideas on how nurses made you feel that you were supported, and possibly made things more tolerable since I don't really get feedback on this . Karen

 

[Chickadee28]

Susan, I could go on and on about how my DH's family thinks I am crazy... In all fairness they have learned to appreciate me and things have been going smoothly for a few years. We disagree on almost every issue imaginable, but we still manage to get along. MIL did have a bit of a hissy fit when I told her that we were getting chickens

She is just sure that my kids will get respiratory problems from being around chickens... not sure where she got that idea. We also chose not to circ our son, very against the grain here in the Midwest. A family member made the mistake of making a comment about it and boy did they get an earful!!! Both sides of my family know better than to comment on my decisions, they are of course welcome to, but know to be prepared for a well thought out argument. Unless they want a debate at the Thanksgiving table, don't make an ignorant statement about my sons private parts

Good for you on nursing for so long! I was not able to nurse my son as he had a paralyzed vocal cord from open heart surgery and had to be tube fed until it healed. I was devastated that I could not breastfeed, but at that point I was just happy that he was still with us. I did pump for along time though. As far as pets go, I spend far more time cleaning up after my kids than I have my pets. It takes me about 30 minutes to feed, water and clean litter boxes every morning. I pick up the house at least 5 times a day and sometimes it still looks like a bomb went off!

Seminolewind- I absolutely adore nurses

I have yet to have a bad experience with any of my son's nursing staff. He was in the PICU for one month, and on the general pediatric floor for 2.5 weeks. We thought he would need only a pacemaker and we would be in and out of there in 7-10 days.... After his first surgery(aorta repair and pacemaker) he went into heart failure, his liver and kidneys were failing also. He had an emergency ASD/VSD repair at 19 days old. The Dr's thought he was going to have to go on ECMO and wait for a transplant. The second repair worked and now he is almost 2! We had some rough days in the hospital and the nurses got me through. DS's chest was left open after surgery and I loved that the nurses told me it was no big deal, and covered it with a cloth. Even when things were not going well and it appeared that DS was not going to survive, they treated him and us with such dignity and respect. They took the time to pick out cute blankets and make his bed look more "homey". When they made up an especially cute bed, they would call the other nurses in to check it out.They encouraged me to hold him, and as you know, it is not an easy task to get a critically ill baby out of bed. They hugged me and comforted me if I broke down. After the specialists and surgeons left the room they would tell me everything in "English" to make sure I knew what was going on. They fussed over DS to make sure he looked comfy and was not in any pain. They brought me food when I was obviously not eating. They understood my need to sleep in the room and wait up for the 3 am blood draw results. They pulled up x rays if I wanted to see them and found out about test results that were not in yet. They also encouraged me to go get a good nights sleep, and told me I could call at any hour. Basically, they let me be a mom the best that I could. We kept a blog of our time in the hospital and have kept it updated. It is www.kevinmatthewkruse.com

Wow, this turned into a long post! To tie it all together, with all that our family has been through in the last 2 years, I have a different outlook on what it means to live a purposeful life. If I want to get some chickens and have lots of pets, then I will, I am not going to worry what others think about it!