• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Wisconsin Homesteader
  • Simple Homestead Life
    • Meet Sadie
      • Our Homestead Journey: Building Our Homestead Diary Series
    • Starting a Homestead
    • Homesteading in Wisconsin
    • Homeschool
    • Letters from the Homestead
  • Eating from the Homestead
    • Sweet Treats
    • Main Dishes
    • Fermented Foods
      • Sourdough
    • Foraging from Mother Nature
      • Maple Syrup
    • Growing Food
    • Preserving and Processing Foods
  • Raising Animals
    • Laying Hens
    • Family Milk Cow
    • Meat Birds
    • Pigs

Life on the Homestead: A Little Boy’s Work

by Sadie Leave a Comment

A family gathers around a maple tree before tapping for maple sap

Welcome to the Letters from the Homestead series where I share stories of our life on the homestead. I hope you can connect to these snippets from our simple life here in Wisconsin.

February 11, 2024

The cool weather has paused the maple syrup operation.  Last week, though, we were able to finish up our first 13 quarts of syrup from our 70 tapped trees.  We are thankful for the surprise February syrup!  It’s been fun to see how the two older children are so eager to be a part of this work this year.  Our son, specifically, has really taken over some responsibilities (like gathering the firewood and keeping the fire going during the day) all on his own.  It amazes me that he cares and is interested in this, and I hope his love for harvesting from the land continues for all the days of his life.

That was what I reminded myself as I looked out the kitchen window to see my son driving the four-wheeler with his little red wagon hooked to the hitch, full of firewood.  Even though I wanted him to be inside doing school work during those morning hours, I battled myself on what really is more important right now.  Should I make him stop working outside on this beautiful morning, doing something productive that he loves, to come in and do a math worksheet?  The professional educator in me screamed, “Yes!  Schoolwork first, then onto the farm chores.”  But the homesteader in me screamed, “No!  Let him do his work outside, let him learn.  Bringing him in will only cause resentment in him towards school and you.”  And so the battle raged as I debated what to do, staring at this wonderful little boy out the window.  Eventually both the teacher and the homesteader won, and all that needed to be accomplished was finished, even if it wasn’t how I had originally envisioned it.

And that’s how a lot of life on a homestead goes, isn’t it?  We have a plan for something, then something comes up and changes our plan.  We have to be able to adjust and adapt, which luckily for us, God has designed us to do.   People just live and adjust and make things work, and that’s just the way it is.

Read last week’s letter here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Filed Under: Letters from the Homestead

Sharing is caring!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Amazon Associate Statement

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Previous Post: « The Best Blueberries to Grow in Wisconsin
Next Post: Life on the Homestead: Deep Contemplations »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Welcome to our homestead!

a woman holds onions in her garden

Hi!  I’m Sadie, a wife, mother, & hopeful homesteader on a journey of faith, homesteading, and learning about what truly matters in our short time on this earth. Read more about me and our journey to where we are now.

To find out more about me, click here.

Want to receive our weekly email? Sign up here!

Footer

https://wisconsinhomesteader.com/privacy-and-disclosure-policy/Privacy and Disclosure Policy

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 Wisconsin Homesteader on the Foodie Pro Theme