The other day, my husband turns to me and asks, “What did you learn today?” and I didn’t have an immediate answer. I had to really think but, before I could answer, my husband started talking excitedly about what he had learned that day. It was a wake-up call for me.

Celebrating Dairy Month in June and Ice Cream Month in July, dairy farmers open their farms to thousands of visitors for tours, breakfasts on the farms and other large events. These are great opportunities to share what we do and our love for dairy. Hosting large events like these do come at a cost. A cost of time, labor shortages, space, weather and the fear of bringing so many people to your place can be overwhelming for many. But what if we scaled back all the big productions?

It all started with an innocent comment on a Facebook post in a local community group. A young woman was looking for a place in town to start an animal rescue. I politely told her city and county laws dictate that one must own at least 10 acres to house livestock.

I used to be organized. I was the Type A person who carried their Franklin Covey planner around like a baby. Then I married a dairy farmer, started farming with him, had kids, started homeschooling and ran a business out of our home. Things got crazy and unorganized fast.

When I was a preteen, my parents’ good friends moved from Wisconsin to Connecticut, and naturally I had an instant pen pal with their oldest daughter. It was fun exchanging letters for a few years, until we eventually drifted apart in our teens. With those fond memories, I wanted a similar experience for my children.

1. You have a ton of places to hide gifts. The hayloft, an unused grain bin, and the baler you won’t be using until next summer are all great places to hide gifts until the big day. Shh, don’t tell my kids.

Chances are good that if you have a question about anything, you instantly go to Google, type in your question and check out the top five results. The question we should all be asking is: “What are consumers finding when they ‘Google it’ about dairy?”

When asked to write this piece for Progressive Dairyman, I was asked to write about the misconceptions about organic dairy farming. The main thing I want you to know is: We are not crazy. Well, maybe we are, slightly. But show me one dairy farmer who isn’t. You almost have to be slightly crazy to do what we do day in and day out. We dairy farm because we love what we do, because we care for the animals and each day we all produce a wholesome product that nourishes billions of people. That doesn’t change whether you are conventional or organic.