by The Sparrow

Created on: January 16, 2009

My husband grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. He was the middle child in a family of nine children. At the time, he had despised growing up on the farm. There was so much work, before school and after school. They lived way out in the country, for the most part isolated from town. He would change his mind later though, when he had children of his own. He would realise that where he grew up and how,formed his work ethics and kept him from, at times, getting into trouble. He later came to Texas, married and had a family of his own. That marriage did not work, however and he wound up raising four boys on his own. He says he heard the word daddy so much that he renamed himself, Please Spank Me. He had ideas of perhaps moving the boys back to Wisconsin someday and let them experience the farm life as well. He would recall his memories and relate them to the boys for the time being. In the hopes of getting the boys interested in the "farm" way of life, he would paint some pretty colorful word pictures. He would soon come to realise that the boys had been listening. Being the single parent of four boys, my husband has had many adventures and misadventures along the way. I have chosen one in particular to share.

This incident concerns the two older boys, then ages seven and eight . It seems my husband had told so many stories to his sons about the wonderful farm where he had grown up, that they decided they wanted one too. On this day, they had gone down the road to play at a neighbor boys house. They lived in a small town that allowed some livestock. The boys got the idea they were going to start a farm. To have a farm, they would need a barn and some animals. They chose one neighbors old shed for the location of their "farm". From there, they proceeded to go about the neighborhood gathering up chickens from first one than the other. Where they got the chickens is, I am told, still a mystery, but they gathered quite a flock. The only other animal they could locate was a neighborhood dog. Since all animals in the city limits had to be penned up, the boys must have entered peoples fences. Thankfully the dog they chose did not have an appetite for chicken, as the dog was corralled in the barn with the chickens for approximately three days. After which time someone heard barking and crowing and went to investigate. The man, upon opening his shed, was surprised at the little "farm".

The situation created a puzzle that the man could not solve on his own, so the local police were called in. With a little foot work, the policeman made it to the right door. My husband was of course unaware of what the boys had done and quite shocked to see the policeman. A few minutes spent questioning the boys and the culprits were found and the puzzle was solved. Thankfully, no charges were filed, no animals died, and the neighbor who owned the barn was grateful for the fresh eggs. He said he had always wanted a farm too. The boys were punished though. They were grounded for some time. They had to learn they could not steal from others.

Learn more about this author, The Sparrow.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.