Are You Seriously TRYING to Help ?

Sometimes I wonder about my little microcosm of a house that I live in.

My oldest son lives on his own ... Second time trying, and we hope he gets it right this time.

My youngest two are still at home...nice to have some help...OR IS IT ?

Yesterday it was a trillion degrees outside when I went out to cut grass at 1 PM. I start with my front yard, move to my side yard then move over to my neighbor's yard. Cut the front... back and sides and by the creek ... then come home to cut my back yard that is the biggest of all.

I have a John Deere riding mower so it is really easy.

All I have to do is pull my car out of the garage, pop the hood and prop it up with a two by four because the lock doesn't work that holds up my fifty pound hood . Then because my kids played on the lawn mower during the winter and left the key turned on I have to manually pull my lawn mower out of the garage and back it up next to my car, trying not to scratch it.

Then I attach the jumper cables and start my car up and let it idle while I switch to the John Deere and crank it up, hopping off to unhook the cables and then unhook the cables from the car. Then I take the two by four out and lower the hood after putting the fancy "Battery cover" back on. I then turn my car off and jump on my mower to cut three acres without stopping or else I have to go back to the part where I "pop the hood of my car and manually push the mower by its side."

So basically THAT part is easy.

Then I got a phone call I had to take so I asked my almost 14 year old daughter to finish the back yard (I was 3/4 done.)

First she needed me to go get her some flip flops. Once she had her flip flops she screamed over the noise of the motor to ask if I would go get her ipod off her bed up on the third floor of the house where her flip flops had been. By this time I could have finished the yard myself but just remained silent (not an easy feat for me.)

I called home from work today during lunch because I had a 100 guest party and I knew I would be home late. I asked my sixteen year old son if he had fed the dogs. He said yes and I asked if he had given them fresh water. He replied that he had so I went on my merry way to successfully wait on a party of 100 people with a tab of well over $3000.00.

Went home feeling pretty good about my day. It was OVER a trillion degrees by my standards. The dogs were out back. Yes they had been fed. It looked like my son had used a shovel to put the food in the bowls...spilling out in every direction and the bowls were six inches from the back door giving all the flies quick entry when the door was opened.

They had water. Poured right into grimy bowls with algae around the rim it seemed. My concept of giving dogs water on a hot day means washing the bowls out with soap and filling them with ice before ever starting to fill them with water.

APPLES AND ORANGES.

What it means to 'do something' to me is a totally different concept than teens have when you tell THEM the to do the same.

In their book "Hey! At least I did it! "

Granted they did it.

It took more time getting my daughter's accessories for her short ride on a lawn mower and washing out dog's water bowls and sweeping up scattered dog food than it would have for me just to have done it myself.

BABY STEPS.

I seem to be dragging them kicking down the road to responsibility...but DRAG them I will.

Remind me to ask for a new battery for my lawn mower for my birthday next month...but at least Massey DID paint the two by four in a really pretty aqua AND painted her name on it for me. I think of her every time I have to jump start my John Deere.