Other Stuff
OTHER STUFF

Dad Blog Comments
BLOG COMMENTS

Blog Categories
BLOG CATEGORIES

Dad Blog Archives
BLOG ARCHIVES

Mowing the Lawn

I don’t like yard work. I like the look, the smell, and the feel under my feet of a freshly groomed yard, but I really don’t like the work. I never have. Yet, as much as I would like to just never have to do it again, I don’t want my wife to have to mow our yard, and I can’t bring myself to pay a professional lawn service to mow our yard.
 
I mowed my mom’s yard and my dad’s yard when I lived at home. I also mowed 4-6 other yards for weekend money when I was a teenager. Since being married, (16 years this month), I’ve mowed the yards of our homes. So, I’ve been mowing for over 20 years of a 30 years time span.
 
Several years ago, my wife had to mow our yard because I was injured and just couldn’t do it for a couple weeks. It bothered me to see her out there around our home doing my man-job. It made me feel like I was failing at being a man and a husband. Strangely, not being able to mow my own yard bothered me more than not having a job when I was laid off.
 
Last week, my wife went out and mowed our yard because I was having to work late every day. The yard was already over due for a mowing when my late working hours came up, so the yard couldn’t wait just another week. So she went out and did it herself. Again, her having to do that in my place bothered me.
 
Why not just hire a lawn service? Because it’s my responsibility. As much as I may dislike it, it is a symbol of my duty as a homeowner, a husband, a man. It’s not like plumbing or electrical work that I just am not trained for, and might make a big mess of if I tried. It’s lawn mowing – something I am very well trained in and very well experienced with.
 
When we first moved into our new home, a year and a half ago, one of our new neighbors was talking with me about our yards. He’s an Indian, (from India), probably in his 30s, and he asked if I did my own lawn mowing. He asked if it was something hard to do, or if it was something to leave to professionals; he had never mowed a yard before. This concept amazed me. I told him, “Well, I’ve done it since I was 12 or 13, so it ain’t too hard to do.”
 
Heck, it takes me less than an hour to mow and trim and rake my yard. It’s not a complicated thing, it’s not a physically hard thing. But it is a dirty activity, and a sweaty activity, and loud, and a bother that I really don’t like. But still, I do it, despite having options to let someone else do it.
 
I’m sure there’s probably some psychological issue with me, why I almost desperately cling to this activity that I actively dislike. But is it just me?
 
Bullgrit

Dad T-Shirts

5 Responses to Mowing the Lawn

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *