Some people may think that goats and teenagers are similar creatures - both are stubborn, sometimes moody, with voracious (though somewhat picky) appetites, and their living areas are always a mess. As I have recently learned, however, not everything is the same...
A few weeks ago we started taking the goats out of their fenced area for supervised "walks" in the surrounding fields and down by the creek. At first we used collars and leashes, but now Emerson and Ellie have learned to stay with us and happily follow Emily as she takes the lead. When we stop, they stop. When we want them to turn, they turn.
Well, most of the time...
Occasionally Emerson will suddenly just take off in the opposite direction, full speed ahead, headed for the hills - or worse. One day I ended up dashing along the bank shrieking, "Not the road! Not the road! Get away from the road!" Fortunately a vigorously-shaken container of animal crackers lured him back to safety.
I need these peaceful (usually) walks with the goats to distract me from another major life stressor. I thought having goats was nerve-wracking - until I tried teaching a teenager to drive.
A large, empty parking lot seemed a good place to start, at least the first day, then the next...After she had thoroughly mastered driving in gigantic circles I suggested that she carefully turn out of the lot, drive on the bordering (and deserted) side street some one hundred yards, and then re-enter the parking lot via the adjacent entrance. Each time we circled I repeated my suggestion - to no avail. My very cautious daughter did not want to chance encountering another vehicle on the road (even though we had seen none at all since our arrival). What followed was definitely not my best parenting moment.
After about five hundred huge circles around the lot (and perhaps somewhat dizzy), I finally lost it. As we once again approached the decision point I just started shrieking, "Go in the road! Go in the road! Why can't you just go into the road!!"
And guess what? It takes much more than animal crackers to bribe a teenager.
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