TM
strengthing families from within
POWERED BY FOUR BARREL FITNESS
There are no shortage
of volunteers when
it comes to feeding
“Poco” her bottle.
By Adam &
Kristin Kleinert
WE GOT GOATS
– AND IT’S
THE GREATEST
es, you read the title
correctly, and no, we didn’t
mean GOAT as in “Greatest
Of All Time” (though these
sweeties certainly are). We
are now the proud owners
of our very own bottle-fed Pygmy Fainter and
Nigerian Dwarf goats.
Y
If you’ve read our column before, you know we
are always mentioning – not complaining, mind
you – our busy family schedule. In fact, many times
we’ve shared advice and anecdotes surrounding
our efforts to streamline. So, why would we add
farm animals to our already jam-packed lifestyle?
The simple answer is we are on a quest to
provide one of our kiddos an endeavor in which
she just may thrive. The complicated answer is,
well, a bit more complicated. Let us explain…
Our oldest two children have never needed even
the gentlest of pushes in order to stay busy and
involved. They play a multitude of sports, sign up
for clubs and student organizations constantly, and
volunteer for opportunities whenever possible. Our
third child, however, has never shared the same
gusto for athletics and extracurricular activities
like her older siblings. Molly has tried several
outlets, but nothing has ever truly clicked for
her, save a love of animals and a need to belong.
22 EXTOL : OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018
She’s been curious about 4H for some time and,
when she vocalized aspirations about joining our
local club, we began to discuss the possibility of
letting her raise and show an animal. ourselves; this brood knows what’s up around
here. They knew we were entertaining the idea of
new pets, and they made sure to prod us as best
they could in their desired direction.
Admittedly, said “discussion” was rather one-
sided at first. Adam (let’s call him “Good Cop”)
grew up around farm animals and cherishes his
own memories of 4H meetings and county fair
projects. He was positively giddy at the prospect
of signing Molly up to participate in the Clark
County 4H Fair next July. With all four kids and Good Cop clearly on
board, the final two arguments were presented
to Bad Cop:
Kristin (we’ll call her “Bad Cop,” but “Voice of
Reason” is much more appropriate) was concerned
about the logistics of the whole operation. What
type of shelter must be constructed? How much
pasture would be needed? How much would it
all cost and, most importantly, where were we
going to find the time?
This Good Cop/Bad Cop exchange continued
for some time. As is our practice, we isolated our
conversations to times when the children were
not present in an effort to present a united front
after arriving at our decision. But let’s not kid
1. Molly needs something of her own; Something
that appeals to her interests but also provides
lessons in hard work and responsibility.
Participating in 4H could be just that.
And…
2. Our 4H farm animals of choice would be
small goats.
Jugular hit. If there are two things that appeal to
Bad Cop’s weaknesses, they are children involved
in enriching activities and a longtime dream of
owning miniature goats. And so, we became goat
farmers. Well, more like goat owners. We’re still
learning the ropes, of course, but that’s where the
more complicated explanation we mentioned
above comes into reference.
You see, this new experience really was intended