Not Enough Woman for the Machine

I'm an independent kind of girl. I told Ryan several years ago that I did not NEED him. I WANTED him. There is a difference. It was kind of a blow to his ego, so I don't mention it anymore. Although, just last weekend he did say that I was way more independent of a woman than he thought he would marry, but that it was ok because he is busy with his job, and farming and if I NEEDED him, it would be really draining. But, like any man, he needed to come to that conclusion himself. Anyway... mowing the lawn has not really ever been defined in our house as "His job" or "Her job". Some summers, I've done the majority, but we try to be really careful with the kids around the mower, we've seen and heard horrible stories (Thanks Drs. Pallante). So usually I need to stay inside with the baby/toddler etc and do jobs that have been clearly defined as "Her Jobs". This spring, Ryan decided that "Sarah needed a new mower". The John Deere store was more than happy to drop by a demo so that I could try it out. I broke the clothes line and could not get around the trees in our yard. I told Ryan, "It's too big. Take it back". Fine. This is what he bought instead.

He did fold down the roll bar so that our clothes line stays out of danger. But I'll tell ya, for the life of me, I CANNOT drive this thing. Ryan took the kids with him tonight, and I volunteered to mow while he was gone. I did not even make one pass, had gone backwards once, almost clipped a tree, and could not keep it straight enough to even use the full width of the deck, and had almost bounced myself off. He told me: " get off, don't get on again while I'm gone, you are to dangerous on it". "I'll mow myself". OK. We've now clearly defined, mowing is "His job". I just I need him after all....