Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2021

Chores:
The building blocks
of character
For generations, children of all ages have
been pitching in on the farm, helping care for
animals, assisting with planting or harvest,
and learning valuable lessons along the way
BY kevin e. schmidt
eastern iowa farmer
On a crisp sunny October afternoon
three children scramble
across the yard of the family
farm northwest of Maquoketa
toward an outbuilding where a
menagerie of animals wait to be fed. Chickens
scatter as 6-year-old Gibson rushes in,
scoops up a handful of feed and tosses it as
he scans the room.
“Hey there’s an egg,” he yells, pointing to
the pen holding his 4-year-old sister Jana’s
prized lop-eared rabbit named Steve.
Eight-year-old Wylie gets feed and continues
through to another section of the barn
to tend to his two Yorkshire hogs and the
horses.
Jana quietly sits in the pen cuddling Steve.
Similar scenes play out daily across
Eastern Iowa as kids ranging from young
children to teenagers pitch in on their family
farms.
The Miller kids, whose parents are Alicia
and Kegan Miller, are among multiple
generations of Eastern Iowa children who
grew up doing chores. While years ago all
able-bodied household members had to pitch
in because of economic necessity, today
many parents involve their kids in farming
because they know the work instills responsibility
and a sense of accomplishment and
gives their children a chance to learn and be
physically active.
Alicia Miller, who grew up in suburban
Chicago said, “As a kid, I wanted to be a
veterinarian. Any animal I could get my
hands on I wanted to take care of. But, I
grew up where I grew up. That just wasn’t
on my horizon. I figured I’d always live in
the suburbs or city of Chicago, and then I
met my husband, Kegan, an Iowa farm boy,
and got married... I knew we weren’t moving
back to the city.”
She looked around at her children.
“I didn’t realize how blessed we’d be living
on a farm and having what we have. I go
back to visit friends and feel sorry for them
when they say things like, there’s nothing
to do with my kids anymore, the parks are
closed,” she said.
“I think, oh-my-gosh, it never ends with
us. There’s always something to do on the
farm,” Miller said laughing. And she believes