pre-fair week

This is it. The pre-D day in every 4-H family's calendar.

It's the week lead-up to fair, hence my blogging absence.

I don't think I ever mentioned that I have officially become a leader of my kids' 4-H group. It was one of those gradual things that just happened... I was convinced after last year's fair to become a leader, due to all my involvement in that particular debacle. One by one, the other leaders in the club left for various reasons, and I was left holding the bag.

It's OK, really, it is. I don't coach my kids' athletic teams because I have zero athletic knowledge or talent. I am not a PTA mom, because their meetings conflict with ones that my LSH must attend. So it was high time for me to make some sort of significant commitment to my kids' activites apart from doing their laundry and providing snacks. Since all three kids are in 4-H, I can feel like I am taking care of my commitment quota in one fell swoop. 

The kids in the group are good kids, and the parents of said kids are pretty good themselves. Already three have stepped up to the plate and become co-leaders, and my job getting ready for this year's fair has been made so much easier by all the help and support they and all the other parents have provided.

So I am not complaining, really, I am not. Things are coming together. I walk around with the nagging suspicion that I might be forgetting something really important, though I have managed to muddle my way through uncharted territory like trophy and ribbon orders. (Really, who knew there were so many different choices in these things?)

As one parent pointed out, however, all the kids really want to do is hang out with each other for an entire weekend. They wouldn't necessarily bring the animals if we didn't require it as a pre-condition to being there in the first place. So whatever happens, it's all good as long as they have time to just be there and enjoy. A little weather cooperation wouldn't hurt. That's not too much to ask, right?