By: Rachel Cutrer
I’m sharing one of my typical recent embarrassing stories — when I forgot my daughter Mollie’s show boots for her first show.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am an over-achiever. I am super organized. I have probably 300 to-do lists going simultaneously, and I get things done. I also tend to hold others to a very high level of expectation to do the same.
But, in April, at my precious daughter’s first show…I forgot her show boots!
And here’s how it happened….
Mollie is 8 years old, which means that this summer she can show at the state junior Brahman field day. She picked out her favorite heifer, she’s been practicing, and our ranch was going to an open show so we thought it would be a good opportunity for her to go along and show her heifer and get some practice since Brandon could also go in the ring with her and help her if she needed it.
As every mom knows, packing is a challenge. I had my trusty packing list, and thought I had checked off everything. We had been getting a lot of rain, and her boots were by the back door. I didn’t want to pack them in the suitcase and get all the clothes muddy, so I just made a mental note that I’d grab them as we walked out the door.
The only problem was – I didn’t.
So, we pick up Mollie at school, and start heading to Greenville, Texas, which is about 5 hours away. Around 9:00 p.m. that night, 30 minutes outside of Greenville, it hit me.
I FORGOT THE SHOW BOOTS.
I frantically look in the back seat, and notice that the only pair of shoes Mollie has is her pink Nike school shoes.
I panicked. By this time, it’s too late to find a Wal Mart or even a western wear store that’s open and grab her some boots. I don’t know anyone in Greenville I could call to borrow a pair.
Here I am, a 2 time national champion junior Brahman showman and a many time junior Shorthorn showman — and I am going to make my kid show in pink tennis shoes. I’ve judged Angus junior national showmanship. I’ve judged 5 other breed national showmanships. And I’m going to have my kid showing in pink tennis shoes…..
It was at that time that I break the news to Brandon, who also holds very high standards for showmanship. And his answer was priceless:
“WELL, IF CHAD WILSON CAN WEAR TENNIS SHOES TO SHOW AT DENVER, MOLLIE CAN WEAR THEM AT THE HUNT COUNTY FAIR.”
That sensible, and non-angry response immediately made me feel better. Because again, if Brandon had forgot the show boots, I would have wrecked the car probably. But, he didn’t get mad at me, and we didn’t make a big deal out of it, and the show went on.
Turns out, I also brought her belt that fit her when she was 4 years old, and that was also a failure. All in all, really it was me who needed the “practice” more than anyone, because everyone else did their jobs flawlessly – it was just me who flubbed everything up.
But, the bright side of this is that we realize everyone gets busy – especially moms. And it’s okay to ask for help, and realize you can’t do everything 100% perfectly all the time.
Have you ever felt that way about your ranch’s marketing? If you’re like us, you have so many things going on at once, and it’s hard to remember. When it’s sale time, you’re worried about getting the cattle looking right, and maybe you forget to make Facebook posts, or find it impossible to make time to do a sale catalog. Or update your website.
That’s why Ranch House is here to help you. We want to be that member of your team that helps make sure your website is great – your Facebook page is updated – and your business is promoted effectively. With summer coming up, a lot of us have great intentions of using that down time to tackle all the things on our marketing to-do list, but let’s be honest – other things come up and before you know it it’s fall sale time.
If we can help you, we would love the opportunity visit with you in one of our free, 20-minute marketing consultations. You can book one of those calls here. There is no obligation, and it’s just a good way to see if we are a good fit for each other and how we can help. Or, if you’re a texter rather than caller, you can also request a quote here.
I’d also love to show you some of our recent projects we’ve done this week at Ranch House. This spring, our big focus is on education. We have created tons of new educational resources for our friends to learn at home – whether you like reading, or watching videos. Here are a few highlights….
This paperback book is a guide to livestock photography with an emphasis in cattle photography. It’s $14.99 at Amazon. Or, download the digital PDF for $9.99 in the RHD online store.
We have also just launched a great line of planners on Amazon. We have planners for moms, ranch wives, kids, and more! They are $14.99 and are great for summer shows!
As always, I appreciate your interest in being on the Ranch House mailing list, and if we can ever be at your service, please let me know.