One of the perks of being a farmer is that you can make yourself available for important milestones. You can plan your day’s work to be present for school runs, health check-ups and all-important birthdays. That is something that many mums and dads cannot do. A farmer’s time is flexible. Colm and I dried off 16 cows – he did 10 and I did six.

That’s my pace. I was only a tiny bit apologetic about it. As Colm said, “Mom, it would be a sad state of affairs if I couldn’t dry off more cows than you.” He was so right. Still, my six were six he didn’t have to do, and that day, we had a deadline. Colm needed to be home around 4pm because it was Peter’s second birthday and Philip and Aileen would be calling with baby Katie.

Colm and Elaine live next door to us so we see a lot of our grandson, Peter. It’s really lovely. He’s blonde and handsome with a cute smile and full of chat. He loves to wear hats of all kinds. Granny’s pink beanie will do if he’s stuck. He’s a puzzle dude, acing jigsaws far above his age level. The film Toy Story is a firm favourite with him so Woody’s cowboy hat is worn for a spell every day. He loves cows and heifers and is learning the names of the fields.

ADVERTISEMENT

Colm and I finished off our cows and were right on time until he remembered that he needed to change a fence to allocate more grass for the cows.

He was not milking that evening. “Mom,” he said, “it will take me six minutes – one to drive down, one to drive back and four to put up the fence.”

We set off checking the clock. I was very comfortable in the passenger seat.

Colm jumped out of the jeep, grabbed his reel and poles and struck off at a gallop across the field. The energy of him. Hooking on the wire, he strode back to me, executing the job efficiently. Jumping into the jeep and checking the watch, he exclaimed, “damn, a minute too slow”. It’s a good policy to monitor how long it takes to do jobs even when you’re not in a rush for a birthday party. That’s what improves efficiency.

All about Peter

Colm and Elaine had decided to have an impromptu party for Peter on his birthday. There was nothing formal, just a message that a takeaway would be ordered around 7pm for whomever was there. We all made sure we’d hit that sweet spot. No dinner to make is always a treat. You could spend a week organising and planning a party and find yourself exhausted. It’s far better to spend the time playing with the little boy or girl.

Little grandchildren bring such joy. Colm and Elaine are expecting their second baby around Christmas time

Peter loved the attention and the most important thing that you can gift a child is your time. To his delight, Philip, Aileen and Katie arrived. Peter loves the 10-month-old little girl. They are great buddies attending the same childminder, Karen. As a result, they love to play together. Katie has started crawling and is also trying to stand.

There was great excitement when Julie and Ricky arrived. Peter looks up to Ricky, his older cousin and wants to do everything he does. Tim and I and Peter’s other grandparents, Mary and Donal arrived along with Elaine’s sister, Anna and her husband, Ciaran.

Scrumptious food was procured from the Raj Gaylord Indian restaurant in Kerry Pike and we all tucked in with Peter the centre of attention.

Little grandchildren bring such joy. Colm and Elaine are expecting their second baby around Christmas time.

So is it any wonder that Colm is galloping across the fields and watching the clock?