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OK so here's the deal. We've all grown up in different times, places, and under different circumstances. I love random information and childhood stories are always fun to hear. As long as they don't start with "When I was your age" and contain "walked up hill both ways" Seriously people how is that freaking possible? Anyway what I want you to do is either reply here or post your own journal entry and tell at least 5 random lessons you learned in your youth that aren't taught to us by fables and fairy tales and please give us a little background Got it? Good! Now I'll begin.

1: Fear is a great motivator to do good. My uncle John is a great guy. He rarely visits though. My family isn't a close one. But one day he and his wife visit us and John all gungho to see the woods and hang out with us kids without having to worry about tracking mud across freshly mopped floors takes my brother sister and I out into the woods. He told us stories of Native Americans, that I now believe were probably made up, and bestowed upon us the wisdom of an old boy scout. On our way back in he starts picking up random pieces of garbage that the wind and trespassing hunters have dragged on to our property. We asked why when he encouraged us to do the same. He stated then with a very serious tone, "If you don't pick up at least one piece of trash to thank the coyotes for not killing and eating you while you're out here they'll sneak into your bedroom while you're asleep and eat your throat." For YEARS every time we went into the woods we would pick up at least one piece of trash. My sister had a few nightmares... Best part our bedrooms were on the second floor. There was no way a dog was going to get up there from outside.

2: Sleds do NOT make good boats. Growing up on a 180 acre farm without a LOT of parental supervision leads three children to do a lot of stupid things. One of which was to try and use our sleds as row boats. Alone they floated well but we quickly learned that we were too heavy... Even my little sister's kitten was too heavy. We weren't allowed to play with the sleds in the creek after that.

3: 30 year old baling twine and dog leashes can not be used as substitutes for actual bungee lines. Again three kids and no adults gets dangerous! My brother and sister attempted to jump from the top of the stacks of hay bales in the loft using twine from broken bales and dog leashes as safety lines. No one got seriously injured. Air was knocked out of them a few times, some bumps, bruises, and scratches but nothing that required Mom.

4: If your bedroom window is directly over the bathroom window do not try to haul a pail full of frogs up into your room through the window. The person using the bathroom is rarely impressed by seeing a bucket fly past the window.

5: Feeding the raccoon will end in its death. One night while one of my goats was dying in the middle of the coldest stretch of the year I was running warm blankets out to the goat, keeping liquids in him, and just trying to make him comfortable as I knew the end was near. I had raised coons a few years before and was familiar with their chatter. I heard it and turned to find a young male coon standing in the door way of the barn watching me. He had to have been born late that spring. I ignored him as I tended the goat but that only comforted him. I wasn't going to hurt him. He crept closer until he wasn't even a foot from me. He saw the bowl of warm water sitting beside me and drank from it. I let him. It was cold. There was a foot of snow on the ground. It was 3 in the morning I had slept maybe a collective hour that night. If the coon wanted my water why not? After a few minutes and having drained the bowl he curled up in the hay and went to sleep. I left to go warm myself and the next blanket up. Half hour later I returned and the coon woke. This time he kept coming over too me. I'd nudge him away with my foot. I knew there was a truck driver down the road we'd given a few coons to who took them on the road with him. I figured this little guy was likely one of his and that it was just lost. No real threat. He refused to leave me alone so I got him some cat food and more water and set him up in the corner. My goat died around 5 that morning and the coon stayed for a little over a week. It took me a few days to realize he had been injured. He had a pretty good gash in his side. Unfortunately the weather got warmer allowing my grandfather to come down and inspect the farm regularly again. When he found the coon he promptly trapped and destroyed it. There have been a few other coons since the most recent being Big Mama and her boys Fred and George all of whom have turned up missing shortly after Grandpa discovered them.

6: Baby ducks can't swim! If you get baby ducks from a hatchery they do NOT have the oils on them that their mother would give them while keeping them warm and grooming them. This means they're down isn't water proof. When it gets wet it gets heavy and they will sink. Ducky CPR is possible, but with over 20 drowning ducklings and only one person knowing how to do CPR there will be casualties.

7: Animals are very capable of making noises that sound like "HELP ME". Have an adult investigate the situation do not just call the cops because a woman is in your barn yelling "HELP" it could just be a chicken who is being eaten alive by an opossum. Cats, peacocks, and chickens are the ones I know to sound that way. Goats can occasionally sound as if they're speaking as well. Beware!

8: Girls are generally better shots than boys. If you deny this you will piss the girls off and not only will they outshoot you they will do it in front of your entire 4-H club parents and advisers included. She will do so without utter "I told you so." when she's finished. She will simply smile hand you the weapon and take her seat so the next shooter can step up... AH how I love firearms and showing up cocky little boys who can't handle their rifle/bow.

9: Your body language speaks volumes more than your words. So even if you and your partners in crime are speaking in code your parent know you're up to know good.

1o: Laugh at yourself or everyone else will. This lesson wasn't easily learned. I'm a klutz and I tend to take myself seriously and act far older than I really am. So when I am attacked by gravity my pride was always hurt. It wasn't until my sled took off down the hill with out me causing me to plop down in the cold wet snow and slip on down the hill on my but into a tree that I learned this lesson...It as the only way to keep from crying my eyes out.

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