Our toddler’s daycare follows the school district calendar so we are getting used to school hours and holidays. For those of you out there with little kids you can understand what I am talking about. That fine line of loving the extra time with your kids … yet at the same time trying to get the rest of life done while they are with you. Well last month, spring break happened to line up with a week that some friends of ours asked us to babysit their ranch while they took a vacation. So whatever work my wife and I had that week, it was going to be a team effort.
We were excited that they asked us. Personally, I always enjoy seeing different land and how another ranch works. For them, we were excited that they planned, committed, and executed going on a week long vacation just before calving season begins. How many full scale ranches have built operating and business systems to allow that? Three generations all working on the ranch, all gone for an entire week. That takes planning, commitment, and execution far beyond preparing for the vacation. Here are a few things I learned over the week:
- Have a plan. They had me out to the ranch the week before to physically show me where the different sets of cows are, which hay piles to feed from, where the gates are, and to make sure I could drive the tractor.
- Have a back-up plan. Between that day of the ranch visit and the day I started babysitting, we got a couple Wyoming winter days that changed the graze plan for the main cow herd. And the main feed tractor broke down so I had to use the other one.
- Expect some change in plans. Life isn’t perfect and things change. Wyoming is known for winter, and machinery breaks down. This isn’t ground breaking information so we move on. Expecting perfect plans is setting yourself up for disappointment.
- Provide information, delegate, and trust. They left me with a ranch map and shared OnX to my phone, the updated grazing plan, hay/salt/mineral/water directions, and the permission to adjust if needed. They left me with authority and responsibility, not just a recipe checklist.
- Communicate before, during, and after. They asked us plenty of time ahead to confirm work calendars, I sent them a picture or two every day in a group text (mainly to remind them to come home!), and they took us to supper after they got home to do an informal evaluation of the week.
- Ranching with a toddler. Here is a key takeaway for me. I took care of a 1,000 cows for a week with my toddler. My wife came and helped a few days too but had the baby in the front pack the whole time. Ranching is hard work, but at the same time that’s how easy it should be. I will admit the weather was great for March in Wyoming, and we only did the basic chores while they were gone. But their ranch system is operating at a level that lets them all leave for a week together, and be handled by a couple part-timers coming out in the afternoons.
- Enjoy life. There will always be work to do, there will always be problems, there will always be changes to the plan, but remember to focus on the most important things. Easier said than done, I know, but fresh air and time with your family trumps all.
To make sure all the chores got done during the week, they left me with pencil and paper notes to leave in the pickup. I figured I would lose the paper or it would blow away, so I created a simple checklist to review every day in a spreadsheet. Here is a quick video of how I set it up.
That was my experience over the week, and it was well worth it. I encourage you to start building your business and your life to allow that flexibility and fulfillment. If you are hesitant to say yes to the next fun opportunity that comes your way because you feel stressed or overworked, ask yourself this: do you run the ranch, or does the ranch run you?
