I mow the lawn to get a tan and escape my children.

When we lived in the city our “front yard” was a sidewalk and the “backyard” had enough room for our trash cans and our air conditioning unit.  At that time I was too intimidated to even try window boxes.

Then we moved to the suburbs and had all this green stuff growing out of the ground.   Our new yard has almost 2 acres and we paid someone to cut the grass for a couple weeks but soon I decided I wanted to do it myself.  I could totally see the allure of riding around on a LOUD tractor, unable to hear the cries and demands of my children, while I “worked” on the lawn.

So Saturdays “mommy had to go cut the grass” and daddy got to play chutes and ladders for the 100 time that day.  It was bliss. I didn’t think it could get any better but there was an added benefit.  I got a tan.  The first time out I didn’t realize how much sun you can get up on a riding mower and I ended up the colloquial “farmers tan”.  I learned my lesson and next time I wore a sports bra and bike shorts.

I put my coffee in cup-holder that apparently comes standard on personal tractors these days and was off.  It was heaven.  I’m outside, I’m getting a nice little tan, no one can talk to me for 2 hours.  I give “the wave” to the other guys doing their lawns, it’s the way we bond.  Both knowing that this “yard work” is really an excuse to get away.

Yes, the initial outlay for the mower was an expense, but I figure not paying someone will eventually even that out.  We were paying $50/a cut every 10-14 days or so, over $600 a year for as long as the grass grows.  In less than 4 years it pays for itself.  So I’m putting this in the “savings” category.   But the real benefit is the “alone time” and I can totally spin it that I’m “doing work that needs to be done”.

I can’t wait for spring!

My youngest daughter in training

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