Shortly after we got Penny, our dairy cow, Travis and I went on a 'date,' leaving Ben and John Paul to milk her. Well, the milking did not go well. Ben is a bit skittish of large animals, and I guess Penny could sense that. When Ben went over to milk her, she freaked out (for lack of a better expression) and began pushing Ben up against the stall. She ended up breaking out of the headlock and did not get milked until Travis and I got home that night. No one was hurt, including the cow, but Ben was left with a less than healthy fear of Penny.
We have stopped milking Penny until her calf is born in early April, but she still has to be fed twice a day. Usually Ben does the morning feeding/watering, and John Paul or Will does the night feeding. Today times got reversed, and Ben was stuck with the night feeding.
He said, "Mom I'm not going into the barn alone,at night, with the cow and those roosters in the rafter." I told him I was too busy cleaning the kitchen, but if he wanted to help me we could go feed her together later. He opted out. He asked Travis, but he was busy doing something or other, and so on, until he was left to go down alone (or so I thought).
"Anna, will you come help me milk the cow?" I heard Ben ask our two year old. "Yeah!! I'll help you!," she responded with great enthusiasm. I didn't think Ben was serious, but he bundled Anna up, put her shoes on, and down they went in the black of night to brave the cow together.
Anna returned, bursting with excitement, telling everyone how she "fed the cow," and "saw rooster...up there!" How happy it made me to have her really "help" her big brother. How delighted I am to see Ben turn to his youngest sister for companionship. I am Grateful for the opportunity to forge the bonds of friendship between siblings.
