To sheep or not to sheep

V is in 4-H.  It is his first year as an official 4Her.  He is excited and was thrilled to pick out projects to do for the fair.  Brad and I really think it would be a good idea for him to show livestock of some sort.  V doesn't have an undying love for animals.  He likes them and cares about the ones we own but that is about it.  He has an undying love for reading!  Brad and I talked about letting him show cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats.  We settled on sheep thinking he wouldn't be intimidated by them.


After we brought the Crawford's home this past weekend we went to a friend of mine's to see her sheep and see what V and the other kids though of them.  They weren't scared so that was a good thing.  We asked questions and then headed home.  On the car ride we asked V what he thought about the sheep and if he would like to show a couple.  He said yes and I made sure he was up for walking them each a mile a day.  V said he could do that.  Then I told him that meant he had to do chores twice a day to take care of the sheep.  He hesitated and then said "I don't think I can do that without complaining, so we probably shouldn't get any."  I appreciated the honesty but was kind of upset he wasn't willing to put in a little bit of effort.  I reminded him that the sheep would only be at our house May to August when the weather is nice and the sun stays out later so you aren't doing chores in the dark.  He wasn't swayed from his answer. 


Now Brad and I are plotting ways to make him interested.  We talked about handing out at the fair all weekend and getting to spend time in the barns and make new friends.  He seemed mildly excited about that.  The next step is to get him to make it like a business and hire C to do chores for him if he doesn't want to do them himself.  It isn't that we want to force him to do something he doesn't like, but he was on board until he heard that he was going to have to do chores.  I want him to realize how rewarding it can be to take care of an animal and train it.   Although he will be showing Pete at the fair, so that is a step in the right direction.  The jury is still out on the sheep, but we have a couple months to figure that out.