Love at First Sight

I took this picture about 4 seconds after I pulled this calf..

..OK, maybe it was like 8 seconds, but who's counting?

Anyway, this momma had been pushing for a while out in the field and I finally got her to cooperate enough to come into the barn, and let me help.

She didn't really volunteer, but I have a way with persuasion you see...

Her calf was relatively easy to pull and she was 15 days early...those combined make for a pretty questionable calving.

He was allllll legs, and after I pulled him and drug him back a good distance from her, she turned without missing a beat and went to him.

Love at first sight.

99% of the time, this is how it happens.
They just know.

I came back to check on them and wouldn't you know it, there was another calf laying beside him.
She had twin bulls.

You think I would learn!!
After having twins and triplets, you think I would do an area check just to make sure everyone had been born.
You think wrong, my friends.
I am lucky she is a good mother.

Isn't it funny how they just know?
Cows, dogs, cats, horses...no matter what animal, much less species, they just know.

Now, I realize there are always exceptions to the rule, but I am not talking about them.
I'm talking about the love-without-end mothers and fathers.

As for me, I always figured I would get married one day, eventually someone would fall under my spell;).
The 'kids' part of the equation was the fuzzy part.

For me, I never had a firm grip on if I would have kids, much less how many I wanted.
I think this is because I was never with the right person.
It's hard to envision a year down the road, much less ten years if you haven't got tomorrow figured out.
Word?

I liked kids, I mean I helped raise my younger siblings...Malinda and I being built-in babysitters...but my own?
Would I be good at it?
I decided to follow my path and not worry so much.

Then I met Chuck, a guy who made me smile all over myself, and suddenly we clinked together, like two rail cars joining.

The beauty of not "picking" the one you will love forever, is that you don't get to choose what comes with them.
You don't have the liberty of convenience.
It just is what it is, take it or leave it.

In my case there wasn't any doubt...there was no moment where I had to make a tough decision.
I just knew.
I knew that I loved his boy with all of the maternal instincts I already had.

Most of the time I tried to sort of sit back and blend when the 3 of us were together.
Mostly I wanted Caden to decide on his own, whether he liked me or not.
I was NOT going to force myself on him.

Luckily he accepted me, I think partly because he liked me, but mostly because he is a good boy and that's his personality.
He is all heart, though he tries to be a tough guy he is really a sweet boy.

The "step parent" is so commonly used, but what does it mean?
Is it like a substitute or stand-in?
I don't feel like either of those...maybe I am doing it wrong?

I rarely get on Caden, or even give my opinion since Chuck does such a good job as a father.
Not because I want to be his friend, but I guess because I wasn't the one there to see him 8 seconds after he was born:).
I joined 8 years later and I have some catching up to do.

The beauty of the step parent, is that you see it all from the outside.
You get the whole unbiased picture.

If you're like me, you take everything in and then analyze it later...cuzyou'recrazy.

After almost 3 years of analyzing I have decided that I have a lot of work to do.
If I can be successful at any one thing, I want it to be providing a place for him to call home.
Not just a few days out of the week.

I grew up in the same home, spending very nearly every single night in the same bed.
Everything I had was constant.

This...this sense of calmness is what I think step parents are supposed to provide.

Maybe I haven't been there from the beginning, but I will be there until the end.

Love,
StepMotherCowLady