Goat Drama, or why I have kids and not children

By: Meradeth Houston on 5:52 AM

(ever come up with a title and just have to write a post about it? Maybe it's just me...)

Have you ever noticed how much a family's profession can influence the kids? DH comes from a family of lawyers. They like to argue. A lot. This is all fine and dandy, except that, ya know, I don't. I come from a family of health-professionals. We tend to like to discuss science, and the crazy guy who somehow managed to get one of those long gummy lures used in fishing sucked inside his male-member (don't ask me how, but yeah. Imagine that one. Now, imagine this story being told at the dinner table when you have a date with you.) So, what does this have to do with goats? Well, there's been this little incident lately:

Occasionally on here I decide to share a little about what it's like to live on a ranch. At any rate, living in the country is what I love, and I also love my goats. Incidentally, I hate sheep (stupid, stinky, dirty animals!), so although we randomly have a sheep or two, it's my herd of pygmy goats that keeps my heart. DH got me a goat when we first moved back to my family's ranch to take care of the property, and he's been our "dog" for the past five years. Niels Bohr (yes, we are nerds, he's a Boer goat, and my husband couldn't resist the physics pun) follows us around, sleeps on our steps, and is overall the best goat on the planet.

Two months ago, we made The Move. Into town. UGH. I'm not a town person (which may or may not have anything to do with the fact that I enjoy keeping the blinds open a lot, which is something that's not so great when you have neighbors). But, this meant leaving Niels behind on the ranch, under the care of my mom. Well, as it always will happen, the day before we left, Neils got hurt. Somehow or another he ended up with a back injury. The vet said he'd probably gotten in a fight with another goat and had taken a horn the wrong way. Personally, I think it was an emu. Bed-rest and staying away from the other goats was what he needed.

That was two months ago. Today, Neils is doing better. His back legs don't wobble the way they did, and although he still has some problems walking in circles (yeah, try getting a goat to do that), he's looking pretty good. DH, however, does not think so. At all. Like he vehemently denies that Niels is even a little bit better. It's led to all sorts of really fun arguments, which I'm sure have led our neighbors to really wonder what is wrong with us.

And this, ladies and gents, is why we don't have children. In case you were wondering. If we can't even agree on what kind of treatment for our pet, I'm not going to put up with when it's a person. (And right about now, I'm liking goats a whole lot more than certain people!)