Sort of a first for me today.

It was the first time I had ever fired one of my children.


Richard boy opened the gate. My god......he opend the gate.....

I have reinforcements coming to help fix the wreck tomorrow.

Starting to calm down some now....and starting to feel lousy.


Trouble is that I know it wont be the last time. I was fired several times.


Anyone else?

Yep. My old man fired me numerous times for plowing too close to the fence line. I loved to see how close I could get without hooking the fence 🤠

Breive - breive jim . . . .

One of my many failings as a parent is a lack of patience.

It's part of the growing process. They have to learn that life brings responsibilities and their actions bring consequences. Both good ones and bad ones. They have to learn from both and get stronger. You are just doing your part, as a parent should.

Need clarification on "opened the gate" being a fireable offense.

Im paying emotionally now for my lack of patience with my kids when they were growing up when I spend too much time remembering or a memory just pops up. Makes me a better Grandfather I guess.

I save my anger for strangers now.

Ha! Having to open a closed gate might get you hollered at FC.

Trying to close a gate once all the cattle have gotten away might get you fired.




We were going to sort some calves out of our bred heifers.

The calves had rubbed a hole in the wind break. About a dozen of them got in with the bred heifers.


No biggie. Just bring the bunch out and put them in the alley way between both pens. Can sort either way.


Nyet. Richard opened the gate so that the whole shooting match went right by him and mixed back into the pen of calves.


So instead of sorting 12 calves out of 40 heifers we now have to sort 40 heifers out of 225 calves.


Grand scheme of things......meh. The very pinpoint scheme of things?????? Hole E schit!

you and me both.

I’ve been lucky, never been fired yet. I’ve had four jobs, quit the other three for another. I have been close twice where I’m at now. I had issues with a couple of guys they hired.

Is this 'Firing' just temporary, or a permanent thing?

If my father had 'fired' me permanently, for as small an infraction as opening a gate and letting out livestock, he would have lost the most loyal, dependable, (and free!) right hand he would likely ever have on our farm.

Consider it as a learning experience, one your son won't soon forget, just forgive and move on.

I was very patient with my kids after I smacked them.In fact they were lucky I was so lenient.My Old man used to strap me when I fugged up.They got spanked with an open hand.Now I suppose it would be jail time for that.

Gotcha Jim. Thought it was something like that.

Had a gate situation like while hunting Wyo.

Couple camps over left the gate open to the camping area next to the cattle local trough and of course they flooded in. Walked out of the tent one morning to heifer a eyeballing me.

Never did get them all out of the area but atleast bothered them enough to stay a few ditches over,

Tough love.

I come from the days when they had electric lawn mowers that had about 100 feet of cord. My dad bought it because they were supposed to spin faster than gas mowers and cut cleaner. There was a method of going in a circle and throwing the cord to the outside as you mowed. I cut that cord easily within the first 2 circles and got spanked and scolded my my dad. Why I couldn't mow like my older brother made him furious.

I was never allowed to mow the yard again, what a sacrifice that was...

Yep.

Is it really a firing offense, or a learning experience?

When I was a kid the crux of my and my father’s struggles centered on him being motivated toward the product of an activity/chore and me being motivated by the process. He just wanted it done, where I wanted to figure out the best way to do it.

I once fired my son for not showing up to work to help me install a giant pre-hung front door. Had to rassle that thing myself and it wasn't fun.

Fired him again on a big concrete pour that he missed. Forgot to set his alarm.

The third firing was for back talk.

All water under the bridge, he was young and rebellious. Like me I suppose.

We're inseparable fishing and hunting partners now.

I figured out pretty early on that if you weed eated too close to my step dads peach trees he would get frustrated enough to do it himself. And he thought I was the idiot for screwing it up every time...

Oh dear an engineer.

Fixed it!

Fire his azz!

My old Man drew a line in the sand. You knew where it was and IF you were dumb enough to cross it, or thought you might get away with something, well, have at it......

He would beat the livin’ shyt out of you, so you better think twice. I remember my Mom yelling “My God, your going to kill him !”
And my Dad yelling back “Your danm right I’m gonna kill him”.

One very seldom made the same mistake twice. 5 boys in the family, and not one ever spent one second in jail.
My Dad said, “ if your in jail, don’t call home, your a lot safer where you are”

Raised on a dairy farm in south central Iowa. My brothers and sis were much older. Always considered myself an oops. But when I got old enough Dad seemed to think I could do the work of both my brothers. In fact he considered me the best hay crew in Clarke County. I was. It made me what I am today though. Retired with a bunch of worn out joints. They were good days though.

After a boy's been fired many times and learned from alla that firing, he might make a pretty damned good hand!

Well, Richard boy recently got a motorcycle for his 7th birthday........

I did not exactly kick him off the place.


I even made him a bologna sandwich for lunch.



We decided that it was best to ask questions if you dont understand.....and when in doubt....leave the gate shut.

I bet he makes a pretty good gate man while sorting cattle to fix the mess...

Yeah, I thought about running him off tomorrow....but I think you are right.


He will be in my hip pocket. My buddy is coming up from the valley to help in the afternoon.

You have a lot of company.
I try, sometimes I do ok.

Honestly, I would probably fire myself as a parent.
Never had two jobs that were as difficult.



Richard boy has it made. He will figure that one out one day.
Hopefully, when you are winding his ornery son up before they go back out to work the farm.

Richard Boy is golden...

He's lucky to have a daddy that cares enough to fire him.

The unlucky ones don't. And they turn out accordingly.

I got fired at home a lot, though it never decreased the workload.

One of my favorite sayings concerning kids and parents,

"People that think they have good kids.........dont"


When someone brags about their kids, it's usually a lie.
When I interact with a real good kid, I like to tell their parents.
Those parents usually say "You talking about my XXXX, she's not like
that at home".

Correcting the bad makes good kids.
Looking for the good, makes parents feel good.

Too many parents want to feel good!

you may have fired him as a gateboy, but you can't fire him as your son. i wish that children came with a manual clutched in one hand at birth. by the time i had something figured out she was moved out for good. color me a flop as a parent.

Laughing. I had to use one of those electric mowers as a kid also. Hated that thing and all the shuffling you had to do with the cord. Cut the cord a few times myself but don't remember catching grief from dad since he was usually on the road working. I did learn how to splice a cord, black to black, white to white, taped the crap out of it.

Sheesh!


Youse guys had electricity??

We did, in the house.

for the lawn it was a plain ol' push reel mower, no basket, rake up the cuttings and sweep the walkways. None of them gas blower thingies either.

I just got whacked, never fired that I recall.

Geno

Good Dad Jim!!!

add me to that list,makes me feel like schit at times

It goes both ways. I have told my daughter many times "it is hard raising parents." She just looks at her mom and nods wisely.

Tom

Wish I had someone to fire. Or swing a gate.


Kinda hard to fire yourself...


Lucky man there Jim!

Nah,

just say these words............You're Fired.................then go home and drink beer. Or something.

Easy enough to re-hire yourself in the AM.

Geno

Geno, not to hijack Jim's child abuse thread but if i had a kid I wouldn't be doing this chit!

Get in there and dig boy!


They say chit runs down downhill. As luck would it have my ass is planted firmly at da bottom of da hill.....


Thursday about 7AM. Not how you like to start the day.

Brought my 12 yr old son out on the job site to work for a week while he was off school. Told all the guys to watch their language around him. Loading trash on the dump truck and he clocked me in the head with a 2x4 block. He definitely got fired and heard all the words I told the guys not to use around him.

Never got fired. Got whacked a couple times.
Mediocre help was too hard to find.

I did know a couple boys that got tired of raising the entirety of their extended families tobacco patch one year and formed their own union.

Told their Dad that he, the uncles, and the cousins were welcome to put out all the tobacco they wanted. They’d help cut, and that’s it. Dad said he whip ‘em. They replied that he’d not whip ‘em both at the same time (they were pretty big boys by then). Then the Mom told the Dad that his brothers could tend their own crop.

And that was that.....

You post some interesting pics. Still have dreams about that ugly ass red bug you posted,

I’ve been fired by my dad plenty, Jim.

Sometimes for a couple days, sometimes just an hour or two. Some jobs were impossible to get fired from, like painting the house. Lol.

You've not yet discovered the virtues of free child labor...

That can come in handy in the ranching business!

I was 18 years old before I learned my name wasn't Fix Fence!

I almost forgot about that creepy ass bug!

Even took a video of that thing.

My dad was the most patient man in the world and I could wear him out. He was an engineer and could fix or make anything and was always trying to teach my older brother and I stuff. My brother was very handy and I could break or crossthread anything, my brother always thought I was faking ineptitude to get out of work.

We learned to work together as a team, my call sign was, you fetch it, my brothers was don't let mike touch it.


mike r

Sam, why don't you just call a plumber?



mike r

Man...it would be nice to be able to call a plumber once in a while.....

Were I left to my own devices I would live in a cave w/ a semi-sharp stick. Skills have value.



mike r

Susan from Montana CPS will be stopping by your place soon to "have" a talk..

I almost got fired once, digging potatoes. If you stick the fork in too close, you spear a potato or two and ruin 'em. But I didn't get fired, like somebody else said good help was hard to find. Or in that case any help was hard to find, very good job security for jobs like that.

Don’t forget GOOD FREE HELP IS HARD TO FIND.
And to look on the bright side think how much good training the calves and heifers got during the resorting. They’ll hunt gates easier every time.

Fred

If she hurries she can have some of the ribs I am cooking.

Besides....its not illegal child labor if they dont get paid. Right?

Joking aside.....I do feel like a prick.

We are buddies again.


Parenting? Yes, I suck at it some....most times.


But I am trying....

My dad was a jerk.
So was my stepdad.
Neither was as good at doing stuff as me.
Proly why I caught hell no matter what..

Ya grow up and let them have to fix all their own chit, or pay for somebody else to do a half arse job.

I do all my own crap at home.
Had 3 daughters, good little helpers when small.
About age 15 they turned worthless as far as help goes.
Much less hassle to just do everything myself after that.

My folks wouldnt fire.

They believed in beating the help.
Or just pulling your hair.
Dad had my feet off the ground a couple times.
That was how you could gauge his anger.
The worst time.....it was his fear. (And I was about 14, not real darn light)

My oldest is 27...........remember her maybe 3 yrs old, helping me tear apart a CJ5 we brought home on a trailer (frontal roll over).
I heard this "klink klink klink" and walked around to the front, and she's hammering on a headlight.
Couldn't break it. Too funny.

"Daddy I help".

Yup, sure did.

Let her beat on a 2 X 4 w the hammer after that.

They were a lot of fun up to teenager.

Jim,

shrap is fugking with you guys.

Anybody with an IQ over 4.5 gets their wife, neighbor, or kids to mow their lawn.

But they are so bad at it!



Aw, schit. I got whipped again.......


Always been more of a checkers player.

If I allowed my wife to mow the front yard the neighbors would start to think I developed a drug problem.

if my old man fired me, then he'd have to do all the schit jobs

he wasn't about to fire me, he was just going to manage me from the lawn chair he was sitting in while I worked.

Mr. Conrad,
My name is Wilson Thayer, and I’m with The Legal Sevices Foundation for unemployed 7year olds here in Montana. I would like to set an appointment with you to go over some brief paperwork before your arbitration hearing against your son Richard aka Boy.

I need to let you know my office will be seeking full unpaid back wages, including any unpaid holiday pay, as well as future financial loss to Richard aka Boy due to his untimely and illegal firing....Of course we’ll want to hear you side of this unfortunate employment issue.

You may want to bring your own legal representation to the hearing...What would be a good time for us to meet, so that we can quickly resolve this matter in the best interest of my client Richard aka Boy...

Regards,

W, Thayer, Esquire
😎

Sam,

In a few moments of envy, I used to wish I'd had a couple of laborers along the way. (I have none that I've been told about at least )

For years I figured I had actually come out on the good end of the deal. No diapers to change, no school clothes to buy, no parent/teacher "talks" (that kind of stuff is genetic in my family).

Then, between my kid brother and sister having nephews and nieces for me, and dating a gal once with two babies, I saw what I missed out on. All the fun of watching the little critters grow up.............................



and free help around the place!

Most stuff over the years I've ended up doing myself. Sure would have helped on a couple of engine swaps to have a helper on the hoist to lower it while I lined up the splines from under the car. Fence posts with the post hole digger are fun for kids too. All sorts of things a couple of extra paws would have helped with,

Now I've got a 7 acre RANCH! I could sure use a couple of non paid hired hands. Knee surgery on Tues and I've got to have a friend come by today to get a few things done while the weather's dry. He's not free.


Now, for Jim, take care of that young man, hopefully he learns and wishes to stay on the farm when he's grown. Good farmers are becoming a scarce commodity in some parts.

Geno

Sammo, I thought every farmer knew that mowing the lawn is wimmens work! LOL!!

Funny thing is that kids are some of the most expensive help you can have.

We had a talk this morning.

I apologized for the words I said.

He said he would try and use that tiny pea brain of his once in a while.

Call it a draw.

I tried my level best to weed-eat my dad's 100' electric cord so he's cave and buy a gas model. Now I have that same 100' orange cord with cuts in the insulation.

I'm right there with both of you.

I tried to be patient with mine. I never wanted to treat my children the way my step father treated me, broke arm, broke jaw, dislocated arm. The more I think about it, I believe WW II fuucked him up, he survived four pacific beach landings, had a box full of medals. He didn’t like loud noises at all. He had absolutely no patience for anything. He would go nuts if something didn’t work correctly. You had to step real light around him.

I don't care what he did in WWII, if he did the things you describe he needed to get fuqked up real bad for doing so.

Jim
Might I suggest the counterpoint of not having to post he got run over by the herd.

Little kids bust me up now. Im no good anymore as a childhood disciplinarian since my first grandchild came along. Never thought It would happen. Conversely my empathy and tolerance for adults has worsened.