Here's one for Jeff Foxworthy: If you find yourself hangin' out by the hog pen on a Friday night…you just might be a redneck. I've been called a redneck a time or two. And my kids do happen to have pigs for 4-H projects that they take to the county fair every year. And, yes, I have found myself hanging out by the hog pen on a Friday night before. My 12 year old son and I lean on the ol' top rail, watch the pigs root around, and we look at their butts and discuss whether or not they're big enough or show ready. Then we discuss feeding strategies, exercise regimens, and the finer points of getting up early to get things done in the mornings instead of being stuck spending Friday nights out by the hog pen.
It's really ok though. My kids and I get quality time to spend together and some of life's greatest lessons arise from things we learn out by the hog pen, or in some cases, NOT at the hog pen. You see, I'm trying to teach my kids responsibility through these 4-H projects. The whole point is to be accountable for a living, breathing thing besides oneself. This includes feeding, watering, grooming, taming, and exercising. Kids need that sort of challenge in their lives, but sometimes that whole responsibility lesson is a comedy of errors.
When it comes to the pigs I'm usually pretty hands off. Oh sure, I coach from the sidelines (more like barking out orders like a drill sergeant sometimes), but I just kinda let it all ride and let the kids suffer the consequences of their actions and reap the rewards. One little slip can have some pretty negative effects. For example, just last month my son learned a pretty valuable lesson on how to properly latch panels.
Right now our pigs are in a temporary pen in my mother's barnyard, right near the prize hayfield. My mother was none too happy to host the swine in the first place, but circumstances being what they were, the pigs ended up at Oleen Acres out behind the old barn. One particular Friday, Mom had been cleaning her house like crazy all day in preparation for a meeting of the Back Country Horsemen she was hosting at her home that night. I took my kids to Vernal for a baseball game.
My mother's guests arrived and got right down to business planning an upcoming charity horse ride out on the back deck. One of the guests soon heard an unfamiliar snort and looked across the yard only to find a 250lb hog munching on Mom's petunias. The pigs were out! They had found a weakness in the panels where my son hadn't latched it properly and had rooted those panels up and down until the wire loosened enough for them to push right out. Pigs were everywhere and the piggy rodeo was ON! 
It's really ok though. My kids and I get quality time to spend together and some of life's greatest lessons arise from things we learn out by the hog pen, or in some cases, NOT at the hog pen. You see, I'm trying to teach my kids responsibility through these 4-H projects. The whole point is to be accountable for a living, breathing thing besides oneself. This includes feeding, watering, grooming, taming, and exercising. Kids need that sort of challenge in their lives, but sometimes that whole responsibility lesson is a comedy of errors.
When it comes to the pigs I'm usually pretty hands off. Oh sure, I coach from the sidelines (more like barking out orders like a drill sergeant sometimes), but I just kinda let it all ride and let the kids suffer the consequences of their actions and reap the rewards. One little slip can have some pretty negative effects. For example, just last month my son learned a pretty valuable lesson on how to properly latch panels.
Right now our pigs are in a temporary pen in my mother's barnyard, right near the prize hayfield. My mother was none too happy to host the swine in the first place, but circumstances being what they were, the pigs ended up at Oleen Acres out behind the old barn. One particular Friday, Mom had been cleaning her house like crazy all day in preparation for a meeting of the Back Country Horsemen she was hosting at her home that night. I took my kids to Vernal for a baseball game.
My mother's guests arrived and got right down to business planning an upcoming charity horse ride out on the back deck. One of the guests soon heard an unfamiliar snort and looked across the yard only to find a 250lb hog munching on Mom's petunias. The pigs were out! They had found a weakness in the panels where my son hadn't latched it properly and had rooted those panels up and down until the wire loosened enough for them to push right out. Pigs were everywhere and the piggy rodeo was ON! Those horsemen sprang into action, trying to herd three wayward pigs back into their pens. One fellar, our buddy Gale, ran around the haystack, hollering to my mom, "Head him off at the top, Marsha!!! HERE HE COMES!!!" 250 pounds of solid swine ran at my mother, ready to take her out at the knees if he had to. Luckily she had a stick and was ready to fend off the attack. The pig was having the time of his life though and made three or four more circles around that haystack, dodging folks and barreling through barricades as he went before he was chased off into the pasture.
In the meantime, another lady in a pair of brand new, bright white, Skecher tennis shoes, was mucking through six inches of mud and water (it just happened to be irrigation day at Oleen Acres) chasing piggy #2 who was streaking through the old corral, loving the mud. Skecher lady, and my sister-in-law in her flip flops waved their arms wildly to head Piggy #2 off to keep it out of the yard and away from the tender, fledgling tomaters. My two year old niece thought it was all great fun until Piggy #2 ran right through her toys and headed for her little swimming pool. No way was she going to let that pig ruin her swimming hole! She hollered at the pig to get away just as Skechers and Flip-Flops were able to get him turned and headed back out to pasture through the mud, the flood and the pig poop.
Piggy #3 had stayed out in the pasture and after a refreshing jog to the bottom of the field and back; he soon joined the other two in the barnyard. There was much more chasing, hollering, and herding around Mom's 40 acres before they got those three pigs back in their pens. A few flowers were taken out and a couple of spots in the hayfield were rooted up in the melee, but those Skechers were ruined and Gale's new boots had stinky pig manure all over them. I'm positive there was quite a bit of creative swearing and cussing of all that pork, covering of the 2 year olds ears, and a lot of cleaning mud and muck off of new shoes and boots.
It's a good thing she and her BCH friends all have a good sense of humor and were able to laugh at The Great Pig Chase of 2010 or else we all really would've been in for it when we got back to Oleen Acres. Everything was back to normal and cooled down when we arrived and we calmly showed my son how to properly latch the panels, top and bottom, to keep pigs out of trouble. It's just a matter of taking some extra time, checking and double checking and not being lazy.
Laziness and attention to detail are two other concepts to overcome when teaching kids responsibility with live animals. Sometimes it feels like a battle. Just last month I was 45 miles from home at a softball practice for my 9 year old daughter when my 12 year old son, who was supposed to be home walking the hogs, texted me saying that his pig was down and wouldn't respond. I will admit I freaked out just a little.
I immediately called our vet for advice. "Doc!" I panicked, "I've got a hog down! He's one of the 4-H hogs, I've wormed him, haven't changed his feed and given him plenty of water today, but he's still down. What can I DO?"
Well, the doc didn't have anything positive to say, really. He pretty much told me if he was down, he was probably a goner. He did ask if I was sure he had enough water though since it was the first day of summer that had actually been pretty hot. When the weather turns that hot hyper vigilance and lots of water are required when it comes to taking care of prize swine. I assured him the pigs HAD been watered thoroughly that day and that wasn't the problem.
But, as I sped home to save my son's dying pig I started asking my kids questions about who had fed and watered that day. Had they really watered those pigs? I had told the vet they had. I was just SURE they had listened to me when I reminded them three times earlier that day. I began to piece the story together with each interrogation.
"I didn't do it. I told Karter to do it. I can't even hook the stupid hose up!" said my 6-year-old son, Kai.
"I told Ally to do it!" complained Karter the 12-year-old.
"I never heard him tell me that!" my 9 year old daughter, Ally, says defiantly.
So, it all boiled down to a big, fun game of "Pass the Buck" and no one actually followed through. That poor pig was dehydrated! He was plumb out of energy. No wonder he wouldn't respond. I wouldn't have either.
The pig was fine, but those kids were in some serious trouble. Angry may have been an understatement for my emotions and mood at that point. This wasn't the first time a pig duty had been shirked. I was nearly at my breaking point and almost said the words, "This is IT! No more pigs for you kids! You'll never learn!", but I stopped myself. Was I REALLY ready to give up on my kids and the opportunity to teach them to serve needs besides their own? The answer was "No". I couldn't. I had to say to myself, "You're a mom. Parents can't just give up. It's your JOB to keep plugging away, working with them." I finally decided that if I took this job away from them they'd never learn anything except that mom can get really mad when things aren't done correctly, and we can always learn that lesson when it comes to scrubbing toilets or doing dishes. Besides, what would we all do on Friday nights in this small town if we didn't have pigs to entertain us?
So, if you're in the neighborhood next Friday night, bring your own beverage and chairs and stop on by. You'll probably get a good show and you just might learn a little something too. See you out by the hog pen!
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