“Look, Annie across the street is mowing the grass,” says my daughter, peering through the blinds like a puppy waiting for the mailman.
“Mmm hmm,” I say, not the least bit interested in that remark. I know where this is going.
“Hey, Mom,” my son yells, taking the steps two at a time, “Did you see Annie mowing the grass?”
“Yep.”
Five minutes later, “Oh, look, Dear,” my husband runs in to tell me. “Annie is mowing the grass.”
“Well isn’t that good for Annie,” I say. Dammit, why can’t the women around here band together? Or at least can’t they mow the grass when my family is not at home?
I have held fast for 13 years and counting. I have never mowed the lawn. Well, I attempted 13 years ago when we were moving from a rental and needed to mow the thick, waist-deep forest that had become our backyard. I pushed and heaved with all my might, and the mower sputtered and choked and did things I wasn’t sure it was supposed to do. I mean, I was new to the whole mowing thing. Thick, three-foot grass is not something to cut your teeth on. So I stopped. A whole eight-foot strip of grass. That is what I have mowed. So yes, technically I have never mowed a whole lawn. And I don’t dare start now.
I’ll tell you why. I have wiped so many butts some days, that I have not been sure which was my own. I have had every bodily function spewed or smeared all over me. I have cooked dinner while doing laundry, helping the kids with their homework while they have been splayed over the table crying that they don’t understand, and trying to get my mother off the phone for the third time that day. I have had a meal on the table every night when my husband comes home from work, even when my kids decide that while I am cooking is the best time to pitch a fit. I clean the house, wash the sheets, put toys away, clean the crud off the toilets, hold the kids down for shots, check body parts for things I do not want to, shovel snow, rake the leaves, sweep the driveway, and sometimes trim the bushes….I do it and that’s fine.
I do not want to mow the grass. And every time I see little Annie over there mowing the grass or the three other women on my street who occasionally do it, I grit my teeth, clench my fists, and think to myself, “Don’t we do enough?”
Well, evidently, they don’t.
Mom in the Muddle 
I wish I had the option to deny mowing the lawn. I’m jealous.
Yeah, I’m not sure how I really got out of it, but I’m glad I did. I think it’s because our last house had a pretty steep hill in the front yard and there was a pretty safe bet I’d have some sort of accident.
Yeah, I have this weird hill in my backyard but I still can’t get out of it. I’m the chosen one.
Once you’re stuck, you’re stuck. Maybe you need to sprain your ankle or something. Buy some goats? In a few years, my husband will have an out too: the kids will be old enough! How old do kids need to be to mow the lawn?? He’s looking forward to it.
6 is safe.
I think they have to be able to reach the handle first. ; )
We have a running joke in my family about mowing. My wife refuses too, but I am the one who cooks and cleans and does homework. It’s still funny though when I ask her to mow. She gets this look on her face like, really, you are kidding right?
Same here. The kids think it’s so funny that I don’t mow. Whenever they see another woman mowing, they make sure to tell me. My husband helps out around here. He is great. Mowing is just where I draw the line, ya know? Now I’m afraid that when/if the day ever comes, there’s going to be this big crowd around the yard to watch.
My husband doesn’t want me anywhere near the lawn mower. He would rather mow the grass with two broken toes than let me mow. He said I’m dangerous with a vacuum so he couldn’t imagine me mowing the grass.
Yes, it wouldn’t be pretty. And I feel like the vacuum is my version of the mower and I do it year-round! Ahem. Of course, it is in a temperature-controlled house with no bugs. ; )
Woman you need to break down and push a lawn mower. Good exercise. I must admit I do cut grass now – mainly because I have a riding mower. 🙂
I have a lot of things to say about that. It’s not exercise if you’re sitting on your rear riding around, you know.