A donkey actually brayed in the background of my call with Hannah Neeleman, better known as Ballerina Farm to her 10.3 million Instagram followers. It seemed like a joke until I realized that the Neeleman farm is home to cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, dogs, and, yes, donkeys. Although the term “tradwife” isn’t her favorite, Hannah is the movement’s reigning queen. Originally from Utah, she met her husband, Daniel Neeleman—son of JetBlue founder David Neeleman—while studying dance at the Juilliard School in New York. They got married only three months after their first date, when she was 21. Fifteen years later, they now run a working farm and lifestyle brand on 328 acres in Kamas, Utah, where they’re raising their nine children—Henry, Charles, George, Frances, Lois, Martha, Mabel, Flora Jo, and Greta Jean (and no twins!). The kids are home-schooled by a single teacher and put in their hours on the farm before sitting down to dinner—cooked, like every meal, by their mother. Between the children, the work, the cooking, and the influencing, it’s hard to believe how refreshed, and how at peace, Hannah looks. Here, she shares the nighttime routine that helps her do it all—including prayers, bone-broth hot chocolate, and tallow.
When do you start getting ready for bed?
We have teenagers now, and we have a new baby, so we’re kind of all over the place. I would say we start getting ready for bed around 9:30, and then everyone’s asleep by 10:30 or so. When I say “everyone,” I mean the smaller kids. The teenagers just never sleep, so I don’t know what’s going on there. I get the babies to bed first; the three youngest fall asleep on our bed, and it’s my favorite time of the day. We snuggle, and I nurse Greta Jean—it’s the best. Then I usually come out and we tidy the house with the older kids, and we read family Scriptures and have prayer. Once the teens go upstairs, around 10:30, Daniel and I usually work for an hour or so, and then we go to bed at, like, 11:30.