By MELISSA HART
Truth in the Trenches 

When my children were younger and I spent so much time wondering if they were going to grow up to be decent human beings or prison inmates, I always worried about their behavior in public. I wanted them to be kind and respectful of others.

When people would compliment me or our children on how well-behaved they were, that was like a big hug; it felt so good. And I really didn’t care where the kind words came from – another mom, a grandma, a prison inmate, I didn’t care – if you liked my kids, I liked you. It was that simple.

Well, I’ve had another moment like this recently, only it wasn’t with my children, it was with the product we put out: Milk.

The new head football coach at the University of Michigan – the man who everyone thinks will turn the program around by just breathing the air on campus, the man who Michigan fans have been worshipping since he agreed to coach the Wolverines (and I think they may even believe is part Jesus) – did something the other day that made me stand back and say, "Okay, Jim Harbaugh, for a Michigan guy, you’re not so bad."

He promoted milk.

At a recent Michigan Football press conference, a little boy stood up and asked Harbaugh, "How much milk do I have to drink to be big enough to be quarterback?"

The first endearing action Harbaugh took was to give this little boy a hug. The second thing he did was tell the boy to drink as much milk as his belly would hold. And then he went down the list of different kinds of milk – 2 percent, chocolate, etc. – and finally recommended whole milk as the best to drink.

In a day when we have to hire experts to come up with catchy slogans and develop commercials that will appeal to all generations, in one answer Harbaugh made a huge impact on aspiring football players and their moms. He didn’t recommend raw versus pasteurized, hormone-free, all-natural, organic, the purity promise. He just said "drink milk."

Wherever you’re at on the Jim Harbaugh meter, with love, hate, don’t know him, don’t care – today my appreciation for him and his simple, kind answer to this little boy is off the charts. Slather a milk mustache on this guy and have him take a selfie. From this dairy farmer to the football coach of the other school: Kudos to you, Mr. Harbaugh!

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World.