The Convenience of INCONVENIENCE!

Well, if you've been following along lately, which has likely proved a bit painful, you've noticed we've been haying FOREVER and I am great at sharing haying photos (sorry)!  However, not only is it a must but a portion of the season has taken just a bit longer than usual due not only to the weather but in an attempt to teach our boys some life lessons!  You see, we humans have worked very hard at 'improving' the amount of work required to do something.  We want things done with convenience and ease but with so many of us complaining about children, society and 'entitlement' these days both my husband and I have questioned 'what values, lessons and work ethic' are being forgotten about due to the push for 'convenience?'

Our boys are getting old enough and are enthusiastic about 'helping!'  The dilemmas:  the boys want to help hay but to 'our convenience,' the large round baler is 'way too much' for the boys to handle at this point in time.  There are becoming fewer and fewer people putting hay up into small square bales and small square bales are always in demand.  Putting up 'LOTS' of small square bales takes longer and is more labour intensive than the large round bales.  Well, you've already figured out that we went ahead and started baling small square bales.  OMG!!!!!  After round baling for all these years ... baling small square bales is PAINFULLY slow and is indeed very inconvenient!!!  The beauty ... the boys can run the small square baler and in fact they've put up about 3000 small square bales without much assistance.

On this foggy Friday morning, we had a flat deck trailer to load and without hesitation, the boys jumped in to help load their bales.  Oh ... they grunted and had to 'stop for a cold drink of water' several times but in the end they were happy to be done (so were Mom and Dad!).

Heading to Southern Alberta for a family wedding,  we had to make a pitstop to deliver the load of bales to one of our customers later in the day.  The boys were proud as punch that they could make small square hay bales and sell a load to the Calgary Stampede Ranch!  In fact, our oldest said "that's pretty cool that we are selling hay to the Stampede Ranch ... we're not even super-big farmers!"  We both agreed and then mentioned to both the boys that you don't have to be the biggest to do great things!  **sigh ... a lesson**

After meeting up with the ranch hands and decking our trailer, which will be unloaded over the weekend, we continued on our merry way!  Baling the small square bales is NOT convenient for my husband and I but it has conveniently taught our boys how hard work can pay off.  It's our hope that the boys will continue to bale small square bales and learn to understand the business side of what they are doing.  My husband and do not want the boys feeling they should be 'entitled' to things in life and although, the stepping stones may be an inconvenience to us, we know that those stepping stones will conveniently help mould our boys into hard-working, honest young men that we will forever be proud of!  Heck ... we are already so proud of them!!!  There are not very many kids out there that know what 'elbow grease' is anymore!