Lawn Mower

So, this is our son Christian.  He’s eleven, but is looking older these days for some reason.  He has his Dad’s height, so that’s probably part of it.

This year, Christian decided that he wanted to learn to mow the lawn.  He thought at some point when he got really good at it, he could even start a little lawn mowing business around town this summer.  Jeremy and I were fans of this of course.  I think it’s so good for kids to learn to work hard, because it’s a huge part of living life well.  My Dad was always a hard worker and he inspired me to have a good work ethic as well.  He actually taught me and my sisters how to mow the lawn when we were younger.  So seeing Jeremy out in the yard teaching Christian was a bit nostalgic and it brought back quite a few good memories. It reminded me of how important it is for us as parents to teach our kids good life things.

Christian was a bit nervous.  And I was nervous for him as well.  I’ve written recently, but lately it’s been harder and harder to work through my mom fears.  I want to hover and protect and I’m not proud of the fact that I’m earning the “helicopter mom” title these days.  But for the record, I’m working through it.  Instead of thinking of ten different ways that Christian might cut off his own foot while learning to mow the lawn, I said a little prayer (okay about ten of them) and tried to step back and not say anything discouraging.

I don’t even remember what made our son laugh so hard in this picture.  But it made me smile and I know that the laughter and joy is something that I want to remember from these fast moving days of our pre-teen growing into a teenager, growing into a young man.

After Christian had gotten some basic instructions from his Dad, he was off.

And then he needed a few more instructions.  Because mowing the lawn is easy but hard at the same time.  So Jeremy told him about how he needed to try to walk straight and how to turn the corners and how to mow around the trees and how to empty the bag.

Also, starting the lawn mower up proved to be a bit challenging at first.  But we were proud when he got the hang of it and he was pretty proud as well.

Ellee girl came out to check on her brother’s progress.

After slipping on my black heels, no less.  And they kind of fit her because our kids are kind of giants I guess, and mostly just growing really quickly these days.

Back to our Lawn Mower.  Once he got the hang of it, he did a really great job.  He worked hard, mowing both the back and the front yards.  He came in a few times to get a snack or a quick drink.  Because it’s a good hour or so to mow our entire lawn.  He got sweaty and dirty but totally had this glow of pride and it was just a really, really cool thing to see.

When he finished, he asked me to take this picture.  “Because I want to remember this day forever,” is what he said.  So I took it, because I wanted to remember it as well.

Truth is, our son is growing up.  He’s learning and growing and starting to do more grown up life things.  It’s awesome and it’s scary but most of all, we are super proud of him.  He’s a great kid and once he gets the hang of it, I know he’s going to be a great lawn mower.  I know we live in an area where it’s far more normal to see Landscaping trucks, but if you’re ever looking for a good old fashioned kid to come and mow your lawn this summer, give me a call because I know a great one.