Arriving home for a short break Monday afternoon, I was in a good mood. My sons, who were out, had been home most of the day and being the eternal optimist I thought I might find the house, yard and pool in good shape.
Instead I found dirty cups and dishes in the sink, a full garbage pail, lots of leaves that needed to be skimmed off the pool and some very high grass in the front yard.
When it comes to chores, my 14 and 16 year old are not great self starters.
I did the dishes, took out the garbage and skimmed the pool. I don’t mind doing the work usually, but needed to get back to the R-J so I felt a little stressed. I also worry that my sons don’t learn anything if I do things for them.
On the other hand, I didn’t want my wife coming in to a mess.
My wife arrived home, just as I was leaving. I said hello, but in retrospect I wasn’t very talkative except to tell her about all the leaves in the pool.
About an hour later she called me at work and said she was going to cut the lawn. (The boys were still out with their grandparents). Since we bought the new push mower (you don’t really push it, it’s self-propelled) I’m the only one who has used it so I told her where the gas is and how to empty the clippings out of the bag attachment. I appreciated the initiative, but was worried she might not do the lawn like I do it.
Arriving home around 8:30 p.m., it was nice to see the lawn freshly cut. My wife’s rows were a lot straighter than mine. She did an excellent job getting all the clippings off the lawn in the bag.
The point of this story could be that my sons need to help out more with chores.
But when I saw the lawn cut, I forgot about what my sons hadn’t done and was very appreciative of my wife helping out on a day when I felt a little overwhelmed.
Let me know what you think.
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3 comments:
I'm absolutely certain your wife can handle the lawn mower without a problem. However, in my opinion, I think this chore would be a good one for the boys...most definitely for your oldest son.
While mowing is good exercise and gets you outside for a while, Mary has enough to do with cleaning, laundry, etc.
Maybe your teaching the boys how to do the lawn would be a good thing? Some possible benefits:
Participation by the boys in the up-keep of your home
Provide good father-son bonding experience
Offers your wife a little break
I remember those days when I was a busy working mom and once in a while it was exhilarating to get outdoors and mow the lawn. I also remember it getting old quickly as the season wore on. Do you have chores related to an allowance? That could help. Sometimes as long as the kids are involved in healthy, productive activities (sports, camp, etc.) then chores can become secondary. Happy summer!
I think your wife did an excellent job with the lawn.....kids will be kids and we all should probably make them more accountable...or responsible...we are all guilty of that....welcome to summer and the never ending, "why isn't this and that done already"
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