You know how some kids rebel against their straight laced parents by dressing in black clothes and never cutting their hair (or shaving it into a mohawk)? And some rebel against their former hippy, liberal parents by becoming card carrying members of the Young Republicans Club? I fear Kendall may rebel against us, his suburban (with dreams of becoming urban) parents, by buying a tractor, some land, some horses and some cows.
I spent years, 6 to be exact, dreaming of leaving my small South Texas home town, of breaking free from that tiny community where everyone knows way too much about each other. Population less than 3,500 and it seemed that half of them were related to me to some degree. I never considered myself much of a country girl. The last time I rode a horse was in 7th grade before I fell off and broke my arm mere weeks before cheerleading tryouts. Devastating. Never had the desire to get back on or be around one since, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kendall’s able to ride one on his own in a few years, leading, no doubt, to the begging and pleading for one of his own.
When we go “home” to visit my mom (Kendall’s Nana, or “NA” as he likes to call her), like we did this last weekend, Kendall is THRILLED to pack his mud boots and talks all about the “orses” and the “moos” and the “wowers”. This time he got to see some tiny “woofs”, too. Though, he wasn’t nearly as excited about the puppies as I thought he would be. The whole time he kept looking at them, asking where the “orses” are. After all, he can see dogs anytime he’d like back at his house.
It’s funny that I worked so hard to leave this place only to have my kid fall in love with it.
Kendall is 22 months old and still despises the 6 hour drive home from Nana’s house. Also, he will forever have a black eye.
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20 comments
My son Chase has those jammies! They are the cutest. He likes to rock them with his fireman rain boots. Kendall is adorable and I am a huge fan of your blog.
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Thanks Amanda!
love the jammies and boots!
That’s a pretty standard uniform for him around there. First thing he wants to do in the morning is go see the “orses”. He will not stand for getting dressed first.
if i were a kid, i’d totally rock the jammies look all the time too! why not when you can get away with it? 🙂
Adorable! I’m on Kendall’s side, despite being a total city girl. Those orses are definitely tempting.
well of course he’s fallen in love with it – riding a tractor in your jim jams? Hello! Awesome.
OMG ! James is sporting a matching black eye right now…and has been for the last week.
Too cute. But I have to admit, it’s got to be hard not to fall in love with all that space and all those animals when you’re a kid! He’s precious!
Is that Dora on those jammies? Where did you get them? I can only find girly Dora jammies…
Thanks… ds loves HO-ses, btw!
No, they’re winter rubber duckies. Got them at Target. Good luck finding less girly Dora stuff! Let me know if you have any success.
It figures…. I will let you know!
I grew up in a microscopic town in the middle of nowhere Michigan. We lived near many farms, my classmates parents were farmers, etc. We had a large vegetable garden, my mom canned stuff and made her own bread…
My Mother moved heaven and earth to get me out of there and I’ve spent the last 15 years in Florida, mostly in Tampa and Orlando.
My heart’s desire is to move to a microscopic town in Vermont, with a large-ish kitchen garden and farms nearby.
What the hell are you gonna do, right?
I am from the country too. Although I love visiting my family and hiking up the hills that surrounds my families farm I prefer town living. It is nice to not have to drive 30 minutes to go grocery shopping.
Perhaps someday I will desire to move back into the country but not on a dirt road.
Keep your boy loving the good life of suburbia and he will grow roots through the concrete. My boyfriend is from Wellington, FL and it will always be in his blood. He likes the country but loves the burbs.
HAHA! I am the exact opposite, and it seems our little dude is following us towards the “simple” life. I grew up in a cookie cutter suburban area and found refuge on my aunt’s ranch as I got older. I would give almost anything to switch to ranch life over city/suburban life. My cousin who grew up in that experience is the same as you and has been trying to get out for years-wants nothing to do with horses lol. I guess it seems like the grass is always greener 😉
That little boy is way too cute! What fun times he will have growing up with a farm in his life!
I love the PJs and boots look! And my little guy loves horses too.
Dude, I HATE the country. My husband’s family lives in the middle o’ nowhere, Oklahoma and there’s so much dirt and trees and horses and wild animals. Blah. I’m a city girl and I wish that I lived in a cool apartment downtown and NOT in a house in a developing town. Oh well. I love my house but it’s so fucking far from civilization. It takes me FIFTEEN MINUTES to get the nearest Super Target.
Ew, that’s tragic, Lauren.
Your story reminds me of going to visit my grandparents in Texas. They live in Hondo, and my grandmother was born there. Everywhere we go we seem to run in to some sort of cousin or other relative. I even ran into some shrubbery while my grandfather was trying to teach me to drive his manual truck (what else), and the person that lived there was a double cousin. It was quite a culture shock for this Northern Virginia girl.