08/30/2026
We support our state fair families and wish them the best of luck at the upcoming state fair!
Dear Teachers, Administrators & Attendance Offices,
Consider this our notice:
Weâre going to be absent again. đ
Actually, twice.
Please donât get the idea that weâre going on some sort of glamorous vacation.
And let me assure you, showing livestock is anything but glamorousâor a vacation.
I can promise you nobody is getting the day off. Itâs work. All work.
Most days start around 5 a.m. and donât end until nearly midnight.
Then we get up and do it again, and again, and again.
Apparently child labor laws get a little fuzzy when the child owns livestock. đ
Weâve stayed in hotels where the cockroaches probably shouldâve been paying half the room rate.
And weâve stayed in at least one where, looking back, the eight-legged creatures may have been the least concerning guests we shared the property with. đ
Weâve slept in tents, in the back of the truck and, yes, in the livestock trailer with the sheep.
At some point in your livestock-show career, you stop asking, âIs this a nice place to stay?â
The question becomes:
âIs it close to the show, and are we reasonably confident weâll survive the night?â đ
And getting there is an adventure of its own.
We pack for a three-day livestock show like weâre fleeing the country with no intention of returning. đ
Vacations have room service, housekeeping and plenty of time to rest.
At a livestock show, WE are the room service and housekeeping. Weâre the unpaid staff who somehow also paid for the privilege. đ€Ș
The sheep, on the other hand, are basically staying at an all-inclusive resort.
They get washed and fitted every day.
Their meals are served on schedule.
Fresh bedding. Plenty of downtime and sleep. Fans and air conditioning.
They even have Wheat Thins and Red Vines tucked in the tack box for treats.
Meanwhile, the humans are running on almost no sleep, grabbing food whenever we remember it exists and trying to keep everyone and everything moving in the right direction.
So if I seem a little cranky during show week, please understand that it may have less to do with the attendance policy and more to do with the fact that weâve had almost no sleepâand have spent the last four or five days fighting Gucci and Ella for a few stale crackers and a stick of licorice in place of a real meal. đ
So why do we do itâand why do I still consider it educational?
Because the show and the unexcused absence are only what you see.
What I see is so much more.
This lifestyle doesnât begin when we pull into the latest jackpot, fair or expo. It starts months earlierâbefore school, after school, after sports, on weekends, in the heat, in the cold and on days theyâre exhausted.
Because livestock donât care that you have homework, practice or plans.
Around here, âI did itâ and âI did it correctlyâ are two entirely different things. đ
And if it wasnât done correctly, I will make them do it over.
But thatâs exactly why we do this.
Our kids learn animal science, nutrition, health, genetics, budgeting and time management.
They also learn how to work when theyâre tired, accept criticism, lose without excuses, win graciously and care for something that depends completely on them.
They learn that preparation matters, details matter and effort doesnât stop just because the outcome isnât what they hoped for.
Livestock has one great equalizer:
Last in class? Feed the sheep.
Won your class? Feed the sheep.
Grand Champion? Take the picture. Hang the banner.
Now go feed the sheep.
Thatâs the education.
Itâs responsibility, discipline, problem-solving, resilience and learning how to keep going when youâre tired, disappointed or uncomfortable.
And those lessons donât disappear when the show is over. They come home with our kids and become part of who they are.
So yes, weâre going to miss school again.
And sometimes those days get marked âUNEXCUSED.â
We understand the attendance policy.
But after watching our kids spend months preparing, haul across multiple states, work from 5 a.m. until nearly midnight, care for their animals before themselves, compete, lose, win, adjust, problem-solve and get back up the next morning to do it all againâŠ
itâs hard for us to call those days uneducational.
The homework comes with us. The assignments get made up.
School matters in our house.
But so does this.
So when you see âlivestock showâ on another Ising absence note, donât picture vacation.
The sheep are the ones on vacation.
Theyâre clean, fed, rested and treated like royalty.
The humans are exhausted, hungry, covered in sheep manure and fighting with the sheep for a few stale crackers.
Some education happens behind a desk.
And some of the best lessons our kids have learned happened before sunrise, after midnight, several states from home, at the end of a lead rope.
â Ising Club Lambs
P.S. Iâll be negotiating with the cockroaches over splitting the next hotel bill. đȘł
