As I sit in my hotel room in Harrisburg, Pa., in the early morning hours writing this column, I can’t help but think about how things are going back home.  Are the kids okay?  Are they getting up on time to help in the barn? Is anyone arguing? What does my house look like?

I had the privilege of a free trip to the All American Dairy show to cover it for Dairy Agenda Today. What a treat to be able to spend a few days at a dairy show meeting people I’ve only read about in magazines and seen in newspapers.

The icons of the dairy industry abound here at this show and I am blessed to have the chance to finally meet them.

But no matter how great the adventure, my mind constantly wonders how things are going back home.

I really don’t know why I worry about such things, I’ve long said my husband is a much better manager of the family than I.  He is so much better at remembering who has a game, what time they need to be picked up from practice, how early they need to get in from the barn so they can get ready for their game and when I’m gone they get up on time to help with chores and invariably get out the door to school earlier.  The bottom line is, he’s just a really good dad and family manager.

There are times when I wonder how much they actually miss me. They were unfortunate to have been born to a scatter brain for a mom and have paid for it more than once with having to wear dirty uniforms, no money in their lunch account and have been late to school events too many times to count.

I can only hope I’ve made up for it with warm moments of reading books snuggled up on the couch, winter evenings of playing cards at the dining room table and lots of laughter.

When I get home tonight things won’t be neat as a pin and the laundry room floor will be covered, but the kids will have their homework done, the cows will have gone up on milk because I’m not milking them and everyone will have a renewed sense of confidence and cohesiveness because they had to work together to take up the slack in my absence. Maybe my leaving isn’t so bad after all.

Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.

Published on Sept. 30, 2009