Sweet Music of the Lawn Mower

Sometimes it takes a special event to snap out of a long blogging hiatus. Well, today was something of a landmark in the only father-son relationship in our house. I was out mowing when Ian came up to me. Whether or not he was in fact prompted by his mother I neither know nor care because some of my favorite words came out of his mouth, "Hey Dad, need any help?"

"Sure can you fetch me the gas can?"

It was high on a shelf, and I almost went to go help him, but then he came beaming around the corner, gas can in hand, and I thought, "Onward and upward, today." I had just asked him whether he wanted to push the mower, and he had just said yes, when there was a quick interruption. My dear wife is a little squeamish about these things and needed me to come in and help Eliza, who this morning was suffering a freak stomach bug complete with shakes and vomiting.

Porcelain intimacies all complete, I came back out to find Ian waiting faithfully next to the mower. (Unheard of, if you don't know him.) Before long, he was happily running the mower back and forth across the grass.

So for today's mowing, the new responsibility and the joy of eating up the long grass was its own reward. Look at the smile.

What a joy to watch him pitch in with such enthusiasm. It won't be too long, I'm sure, before we start to pay him for lawn mowing, but today was special. He's also learning a skill that can earn him his own real money. Adventures to come...