Spring Cleaning

I’m writing this as the kids have taken it upon themselves to clean out the fireplace on this Sunday morning, which is quite timely, as I have just been reflecting on how they approach doing chores. Our two eldest kids are very different. At four, Tully is ever ready to help – you just mention a task and she’s by your side, offering to do it for you – whereas Hartley suddenly acquires a can’t-be-seen injury the moment any kind of chore or housework is mentioned.

Like many of you rural and rural-at-heart folk, Mike and I are not shy of hard work, and a strong work ethic is a value we share – although our work hours differ. During calving, Mike is out on the farm from early morning until dinner with rarely a break, and I’m often working until eleven or midnight. Mike reckons I work longer hours than him, which is probably true – although, to be fair, when the days are interrupted by kids’ drop-offs, pick-ups and cooking, as I am sure you other mums can relate to, I am always playing catch up in the evenings.

Mike’s parents raised five kids – his dad farmed for many years, adding land as the neighbours sold up, and his mum used to take his youngest sister with her to teach, putting her at the back of the classroom in a playpen. My mum works in mental health and puts in far more than her allotted part-time hours to support the young people she works with. When I think about the women in the stories we’ve gathered this edition, I am in awe of their hard work and also their incredible practicality, physical strength and resourcefulness. From Kali, who took on her own contract milking job with baby in tow (see page 75), to Tommi from Rangiauria Pitt Island, who would have to be the most remote stock agent in Aotearoa, juggling weather and broken-down boats to get stock to market (page 34). And from Molly, a vet, and Simon, buying ewes the day before their wedding (page 92), to Debbie, an aircraft engineer, who was the first woman in Aotearoa to qualify as an aircraft inspector (page 52). Debbie says, “I believe hard work will get you wherever you want to be. That’s a lesson I’d like my children to learn from me.” I hope so for my children, too.

Sometimes, like Kali in her story, I find it a struggle to get the right balance between work and home and the kids – there’s a lot on the go, and it’s easy to be thrown into working all hours. A few weeks back, while in the Waikato for work, I stayed with my friends Claire and Adam – who juggle a plant nursery, kids and a business each. Adam said that instead of worrying about having balance over a week, or from week to week, he looks at a longer period – acknowledging when it’s going to be busy, looking at ways to make it manageable, and scheduling downtime at the end. So instead of taking a certain day off each week, sometimes it’s six weeks of hectic activity and then a breather or a weekend away – or even just a change of scene for a few hours.

When you’re in the thick of long days, it can be hard to see things clearly or see that you’re making any progress. All the seeds have been planted, but the shoots haven’t yet appeared. I’ve been learning lately about having a bit of trust in yourself – that when you do the hard work and stay true to your values, things will take hold as they should. And hopefully – with a bit more patience – you will see the beauty of your work. That is spring, the season we find ourselves in.

You might notice a few wee tweaks in this edition. We’ve brought in a new section up the front – a spread of happenings across the motu for you to enjoy over a cuppa (see page 24); we welcome a regular column on life in the Rēkohu Wharekauri Chatham Islands (see page 19); and we’ve introduced a page where readers share their memories of days gone by, to mark the end of each edition. We’re constantly adapting, leaning into the stories from you folks in rural and remote corners of Aotearoa.

Kristy

Glossary. Motu, country.