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Every Weds., the folks at Ranch House Designs post what they call "Livestock Motivation" on Facebook.  This usually consists of a livestock related picture and a quote from something or someone.  As all of them have been extremely good got the point across, the one above really hit home this week.  I usually don't get to caught up in most things, and don't usually come on here and get all "sappy" however as a "new" parent who is preparing my step-son for his first County fair mini- beef show this coming Sunday, I can comepletely relate to this picture and caption.  The emotions, both positive and negative, from both my son,  myself and my wife over the past few weeks have been all over the place.  Even though I am a new parent(which I do not think matters), it has been very trying for both Beth and I to watch him progress with his steer, especially when he gets frustrated and says he can't do it.  Truth is, he has been around cattle and livestock both at our farm and his uncles all his life,but he has never had a calf that is "truly his", one that he has worked with from day one and became friends and partners with....and I might add, for an 8 year old, he probably has more God given talent for working with both his calf and his pigs than alot of kids I have worked with in the past.  I am in shock that he can walk "Rampage" right into a side profile stance EVERYTIME.  This is where the tough part is for Beth and I.  As two parents that both grew up in the junior livestock program, we know how positve this program is and how much impact it can make on a young person.  Everything has been going great the past couple of weeks, we got his steer broke(like a puppy I might add), and it has been a family commitment washing, blowing, walking, etc. to make sure that Kendall has the most positive experiance possible his first time out the gate....that is until he got stepped on the other night. Ugh!! Rampage has become a little of what horse folks would call "barn sour".  He is always in a hurry to get back to the barn and the other night while we were walking him back towards the barn, Kendall inadvertently had his foot where Rampage wanted to put his.  I will give him credit, he did not cry right off the bat, he simply said "Ouch" in a little higher pitch than normal and never let go of the halter.  As I turned around, he looked at me with tears welling up in his eyes, gave me a hug as I took the halter and then began to let it out.  I felt horrible, the one thing I did not want to happen did and I did not know how to tell my little buddy that it would be ok and that we needed to keep working.  Anyone that knows me knows I am as competative as they come, and so my first thought is lets just go 5 more steps to show Kendall that it was not intentional.  As he finally calmed down, he grabbed the show halter while I had the rope halter and after 2 steps, the steer kind of pushed over on us. By this time, Kendall was now scared and I am thinking that it is all my fault, I pushed him to hard.  I should have backed off....HE IS ONLY 8 YEARS OLD!!  As I sent him to the office with his eyes full of tears again, he was met by grandpa and grandma...and let me tell you, that was just what he needed.  He needed someone to talk to about what happened and have grandma take his shoe off, kiss it and make it better.  About 30 minutes later, he returned to the barn as I was sitting in a chair contemplating what had just happend and wondering if I would ever get him to try this again.  He grabbed my hand, we did our little "secret handshake" and he told me, " It's not all Rampage's fault, it was both our faults.  He did not want to lead and I had my foot in the wrong place".  Now I can tell you, that came from grandpa...I have heard it 1000 times.  That night, I was sitting on the patio, and called my good friend Kirk Stierwalt to explain to him what had happened and if he had any ideas on how I could gain Kendall's confidence back.  He simply said" Welcome to parenthood Dave, and just remember HE IS ONLY 8 YEARS OLD. Back off and don't push him so hard, guide him, but let him figure it out."  Those simple words from one of my best friends and the premier cattle educater in the country were not really what I wanted to hear, but he is right, I have to keep this in mind.  Often times, whether it be showing livestock, sports, band, etc., I see parents living vicariously through their children, making them do the things they want them to do.  I have always sworn that I would not be one of those parents, I want my children to show livestock, but if that is not what they want, that is fine, I will support them in whatever they choose to do.  So the past couple days, we have been working on gaining confidence back and all seems to be better.  Kendall is more aware of his surroundings and is working to build his partnership with his steer.  Sunday is the big day, and I hope he goes through with it, but at the end of the day, I keep having to remind myself HE IS ONLY 8 YEARS OLD.

Thanks for letting me get a little off track here today...wait, why am I thanking you, it's my blog!LOL.  Thanks to Rachel and the crew at RHD for continuing to provide great weekly motivation.