Everyone who has ever lived on a ranch has probably had the night shift of cow checking during calving season, unless they are very lucky. I have been doing it every single night, except three, since the end of February. Now, how did I get stuck with this job? Well, it's pretty simple. My mom, my two younger brothers, and myself all live on the ranch full-time. My sister is off at college still and my dad works out of town. My mom is an early to bed, early to rise type. It was obvious she was going to be early morning checker. Of my two brothers, one is in out of high school and the other is still in high school. The oldest of the younger brothers is neither a night owl or an early morning type. He's what I like to call a middle-of-the-dayer. So he gets the middle of the day until evening shift. Now, my baby brother is actually being home schooled right now by yours truly, but that's a whole other story. So the high schooler is out for basically any checking during the week. On the weekends however, he is the go-to man if my mom, brother, or I need a break. So that leaves me. I get stuck with the night shift. Can you say short end of the stick?! Sometimes I complain about this because we all know I'm the foreman of this here ranch! Unless my dad is home, then I allow him to have a little say. Just a little. The foreman part is basically true. My cousin from Minnesota even commented about how I "run this place". I take care of all the bills, handle the finances, do a lot of the cleaning and most of the cooking, always take care of any type of cattle work preparation, and then, of course, do just as much (or more) manual labor as those dang men around here. Pretty sure this whole operation would fall apart without me. I guess that's part of the reason I came home.
But, even the foreman has to make a few sacrifices, such as night calving. When dealing with the night shift, you need to figure out how you can do it best. Everyone is different, so everyone approaches it a different way. I know some people who like to sleep in between checks and set their alarm. I know people who just magically wake up when its time to check... or so they say *suspicious look*. Obviously, neither of these methods have ever, or will ever work for me. I am the type that needs to stay up the entire time. I just know the second my head hits that pillow for a little "nap" I will not be waking back up. So I just stay up and use the time I have alone to, well, be alone. For once. It's marvelous. Sometimes I get to watch TV, or I blog, or read a book. An actual book! Like I said, I'm busy. But, to be completely honest, I usually work on homework. Yea, I'm the crazy person getting a degree to work on a ranch. I'm also getting my real estate license. When will I ever have time to sell a dang house, or ranch, or anything? I have no idea. Maybe I'll just stop sleeping completely. I can sleep when I'm dead, right?
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