I Mowed the Lawn!!!

This post has nothing to do with my kids for once. They're usually the reason I listen for a laugh track, but not this time. Today I was thinking about how absurd I sound proudly announcing that I mowed the lawn. I got a huge blister doing it (could I be any more of a pansy?), but I did it. This everyday task that is mundane for others is a milestone for me. I've never mowed a lawn before. Never even used a lawn mower before. I know what you're thinking. I must have grown up with a bunch of brothers that always did it. Nope. One younger sister, that's it. The real reason? My parents didn't HAVE a lawn until I went away to college. Now before you go thinking that my parents were lazy, trashy, or [fill in your favorite derogatory term here], let me tell you a little background.

I'm from Silicon Valley. My parents had to buy the mother of all fixer uppers to be able to afford a house. The front yard had been SO bad with the previous owners that when my parents ripped everything out and kept it as plain dirt for several years, all the neighbors actually thanked them. No really. People passing by would stop and comment on what a great job they were doing. I suppose it was a big improvement not to have a compost heap in the front yard anymore... My parents bought the house when I was in junior high and were kept plenty busy until I went away to college making the inside habitable. Filling in the "root cellar" the previous owners had dug (which was compromising the foundation) with concrete. Scraping linoleum off the hard wood floors. Replacing tubs and sinks that had been painted. Everyone has their priorities and the front yard was pretty low on the list. Though this tidbit doesn't really affect my lack of mowing know-how because I was pretty much out of the house, the saga of my parents' front yard came to an amusing conclusion. My dad didn't want any grass and my mom did. In the end, they worked out a compromise where my dad is okay with grass because my mom mows it. So I guess lawn mowing is destined to be a subject with strange associations for me.

Ah, but now I have experienced the rite of passage. I have mowed a lawn. I think that might even qualify me as a fairly normal human being. I suppose that's still open to debate...