Jax

Yesterday was a miserable day here. Rain and slush and mud and the boys and Earl spent the morning cleaning the house to keep me from making good on my threat to take Oliver and go on vacation until everyone learned to put their things away. Then Jackson went to a friend's house. Earl went to pick up milk at the Putnams. I took the other boys to baseball sign-ups and on a few errands. We picked up Jackson and on the way home, Cliffy pointed out that today, the best thing to wear was a house.

So then we got home and dubbed around and made supper and got on each other's nerves. Cliffy did chicken chores and looked defeated by the walk across the road, but we had talked about him taking on the job of bottle feeding the new calves and so I told him it was time to go help Daddy at the barn. I reminded him that Earl was paying a dollar per milking. Well, Cliffy made it pretty clear that he really, really didn't want to go, although he would if I absolutely said he had to, and I was thinking this over when Jackson volunteered. I was still thinking it over when Jackson appeared at my feet with all his warm things and an umbrella. So even though he just turned five and it was windy and awful, I sent him up. I tried to call Earl to let him know he was coming, but the barn phone isn't working. So I distracted myself and made the pasta fresh because it's Jackson's favorite. I was just looking for Earl's raincoat that fits over me and Oliver to go check on them when Earl and Jackson slogged in the door.

They were soaked, even with the umbrella, but Jackson beamed like molten sunshine when Earl gave him a dollar and thanked him for his help. He ate like a teenager, thanked me for making supper, and was all business at bedtime, happy to rest his hard-working little self.

Jackson takes himself very seriously, which can be supremely annoying. He isn't just playing, he's Doing Very Important Things and doesn't like to be interrupted to, say, eat, or sleep, or get ready for school. Farm work, on the other hand, is itself a Very Important Thing, especially if Daddy is involved, and Jax is out the door at the first mention of a barn. When I milk, he manages the grain, climbing up onto the tie rail to turn the auger off and on. I'm pretty sure if I asked him to fill the bin and then asked again later, I'd end up doing it myself, but if I ask him to make sure I don't run out, well, that's a different story.

Earl and I think sometimes about how it would be nice if one of these boys wanted to keep the farm going when we retire. Earl has some perspective on this, and doesn't want the boys to grow up thinking they don't have other options. So even though we think Jackson would make an excellent farmer, we'll keep that to ourselves. If he comes to that conclusion on his own, well, that's a different story.