There is seemingly an inordinate number of dairy farm families that have a lot of girls, and we are no exception. My wife and I have been blessed with three beautiful daughters. While many theories abound, it is my belief that our success with sexed semen on the farm has also found success in the farmhouse. I have been asked on occasion when we are going to try for a boy and it always seems like an odd question to answer. I’d like to take this moment to share with you what life is like with three daughters.

Dwayne Faber is a writer, speaker and dairy farmer. He and his family operate farms in Oregon. To...

Living in a house with four women isn’t always sunshine and roses. For the uninitiated, life with a house full of women looks like this.

I typically need to move a minimum of three pillows in order to sit down or go to sleep. Girls also love smells, and not boy smells. There are usually 14 candles lit on any given evening and, contrary to most public perception, it is not a memorial. Every candle has fun names like “An autumn walk in the rain through the trees,” or “Spring flowers with notes of honey and citrus.” There has yet to be a candle named “Freshly mowed, first-cutting silage” or “Turned-over dirt in the spring.” 

The smells don’t stop at the candles. My shower used to contain one giant bottle of Mane ‘n Tail that worked great for hair, armpits and every other corner of the body. Not anymore. My shower now consists of shampoos that sound more like dessert than shampoo. Shampoos with names like “Wild Berry Orange Peel” or “Coconut Mango Passion.” It doesn’t stop there. For 26 years of my life, I thought there was only one moisturizer for cracked hands and feet. The moisturizer with a ringing endorsement from farmers and cows all over the country – Bag Balm. Now my cabinet consists of “Private Island Secret Sunrise” or “Tropical Morning Banana.” The smelly soap marketing game looks fairly simple actually. Just pick a color, your favorite tropical location and a fruit. Boom, congratulations, you’re in marketing.

Life with daughters is challenging with moments of levity. It was a couple of years ago where we were in the throes of potty training an obstinate 3-year-old. 

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Out of the corner of my eye, I witnessed a scurrying 3-year-old heading into the bathroom, and I showed up just in time to see her in front of the toilet peeing in her pants and standing in a puddle. After chastising her for a clear inability to use the toilet, Mrs. Faber walked in, looked me in the eye and said, “Easy there, hot shot, you’re at about 80 percent yourself.”

Life with daughters has been an amazing experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The maternal instinct in my daughters has taught me that spending the extra time to feed the struggling baby calf is worth it. They have taught me to view every cow as a mother who needs to be treated as such. Seeing the farm through the eyes of a 6-year-old provides moments of joy. Moments where my daughter proudly stated that she knows which baby calves are girls because they are the ones with eyelashes. This was the same girl who, after dropping beef cows off at the auction barn and sitting down for a donut, asked how many cows we traded to get her donut. 

Life with girls is unique and special. My girls make me a much better, kinder person. So, when I get asked if we’re going to try for a boy, my answer is no. I’m a girl dad.