Life Lessons in the Barn

The State Fair of Virginia wrapped up this past weekend, 有了它, things will begin to slow down for many families that participate in livestock shows (there are still a few shows coming up, but the big push is al大多数 done).  Over the last several months, many of these families have participated in Regional and Preview shows, 小公民, county and state fairs, and even national shows in many 不同的州 and areas across the country.  That was definitely the case for our family when I was growing up, and we are starting the same tradition with our boys.  早期的早晨, 很晚, months of work at home before going to the show, and a lot of work for one day; sound fun?

You wouldn’t be alone if you said no.  It sounds like a lot of work, and it is; early mornings and 很晚 before school, turning down invitations to parties, and for many no summer vacation (except for the shows).  再加上, at each show someone is going to win and someone is going to lose…and its al大多数 a guarantee that even with a good animal and a lot of hard work, you won’t always win.  那么为什么要这样做呢??  Why spend the time and the money to do all of this, just to go to a show and possibly lose?

因为, 大多数 of these families, it’s not about winning.  Do they like to win?  当然!  Do they celebrate when they win?  你说对了.  But for them, the winning is the least of it.  Owning, caring for and showing livestock is about character.  It’s about hard work and perseverance; winning with grace and losing the same way.  It’s about shaking the judge’s hand and saying thank you, even if you didn’t agree with him.  It’s about listening to the advice, suggestions and criticisms and using them to improve.  It’s about caring for something more than yourself; an animal that depends on you for food, 水和护理.  It’s about taking the hard knocks and rolling with the punches, about learning that life isn’t always fair and that you can get through those tough times.  It’s about realizing that spending a lot of money on an animal isn’t a guaranteed way to win; and learning that life is fragile.  That calf you bought that you worked so hard with can get sick or die, that ewe that you kept and bred to produce next year’s show lambs can lose her lambs, that pig that looked so good when it was young can go off feed and not be ready for the show.  These things can happen, and how you handle them will help shape who you become.  It’s about learning how to feed an animal, how to look at it to tell if it is not feeling well, learning how to create a balance sheet, 记录, 支付账单, and understand expenses and income.  It’s about making friends you would have never made otherwise, meeting people from different towns, 不同的州, maybe even different countries, and realizing that common interests can reach across great physical distances.

为父母, it’s about building leaders, kids who are kind and caring, who listen and work hard to improve, who know what it feels like to win and to lose.  It’s about teaching your kids that the person you are is more important than the ribbon you hold; that you’re never too busy to help someone who is struggling with that heifer that doesn’t want to walk, even if that heifer beat you in class earlier.  It’s about raising people we’d be proud to know and call friends; people who are loyal, strong, kind and hard working.

That blue ribbon or purple banner?  Its icing on the cake.  The lessons, experiences, connections and friends that come from showing livestock?  That’s the real reason these families do it.