Mom Life: Taylor Huffman

Taylor Huffman

Title: Co-Owner, Winterbrook Farms, and Realtor

Lives: Thurmont

Family: Husband, Brandon; children, Jana, 2 ½, and Weston, 4 months

What do you love about being a parent?

It is amazing how much becoming a parent changes you. The things that used to bring me joy changed. Instead, seeing my child excited and happy brings me pure joy. For example, we got a great deal last year on a Disney cruise for a family vacation and our daughter’s second birthday. She smiled the entire trip and that brought my husband and me so much joy. It doesn’t matter that she won’t remember it (so far she has!) being in that moment was worth it.

Five things you can’t live without?

Hands down, sweet tea is my No. 1. I am a true southern soul and of course that means I live off sweet tea, right?

What is your favorite chore?

Definitely not cleaning bathrooms! I love feeding the farm animals in the mornings. I don’t get to do it as often anymore—just getting out of the house with two little ones is a chore.

What do you find challenging about raising kids?

Adjusting your work schedule and life to accommodate them. Running a real estate business and a 450-acre farming operation comes with a seven-day-a-week work schedule. We try to balance the endless work with time spent with the kids. Our kids are so small though, and they can’t always be with us as much as we’d like them to be. We are working on changing as much as we can. We don’t want to miss these precious years.

How do you take care of your mental and physical health?

Well, this is a great question. This is hard. As a parent, you automatically put your kids first and put yourself on the back burner. Personally, this is an area of weakness that I am working on. I know how extremely important it is. Every now and then, I try to sit still and just breathe. To give thanks for what we do have, especially our health.

What’s something your family loves to do together?

Time spent together at the farm. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown made us realize how lucky we are to have over 300 acres to explore together. We spent much more time together outside, just enjoying little things like the farm animals, playing in the sand at a corn maze activity that we have, and even picking sweet corn together from our field.

What is something that makes the parenthood-career juggle a little bit easier?

For us, this would be help from family and friends. We are so fortunate that we have so many wonderful people that are a part of our kids’ lives. With our tricky and ever-changing schedule, this is essential for us. Also, to know our kids are loved unconditionally is a wonderful feeling.

What’s next for you?

Well, we are continuing to figure out the busy life and parenthood juggle. We are expanding our farm operation and adding more you-pick options (blueberries and strawberries in 2021!). On top of our Sunflower and Fall Festival operation, we are hoping to grow and add businesses that give our kids lessons and opportunities right at the farm as they grow up. Not to mention, our biggest goal is to instill a hard-work ethic in them.