New Respect

When I was little I often remember trying to "help" my dad. While I have many memorys of watching dad work in his work shop I also have quite a few of being told he didn't really want my "help" any more. If memory serves those were usually the times he was fixing cars, lawnmowers and the like. At the time I didn't understand what could possibly be unhelpful about my presence.

Today I understand.

Today I put the cutting deck back on the lawn mower. This is something that I'm sure would have taken any of my male relatives 5 minuets tops. It took me about three hours.

Three hours in which-

-I made a makeshift ramp to get the lawnmower out of the barn
-I put kid number two down for a nap
-I tried for way too long to "slide" the stupid thing back under like it says you can do
-I called John to find out that that doesn't really work and that they had to lift the mower off the deck when they took it off
-I made a ramp
-I drove the mower up on the ramp to get the deck under it
-I pulled it back off the ramp and smashed my fingers
-Then enter help of Ivy
-I got handfuls of grass
-I got rocks
-I got a phone
-I got sticks set on my back courtesy of Storm
-I got a pto engager shift thingy smashed into my knee so hard I couldn't feel part of my leg (that wasn't due to the kid or dog, that was just me being a klutz)
-I got a diet coke (I needed a diet coke)
-I called my dad to find out what to do with a random part I couldn't figure out
-I went up to the barn for wire to fix the part
-I was given more grass
-I was given flowers
-I was given a screwdriver (but I asked for that one)
-I got it on!
-I turned it on!
-the belt fell off
-I started putting the belt back on
-Kid two woke up
-I changed a diaper
-I made lunch
-I cleaned up lunch
-I nursed a kid
-I changed another diaper
-I went back with two kids and two dogs in tow
-I got the belt on
-I turned it on
-It worked!Then we all sat down and made dandelion crowns in the grass, because we only had 20 minutes before nap time.












So today I have a new respect for my Dad's grumpiness when I wanted to help. And all those male relatives of mine who could get the job done in five minuets, I'd like to see them do it in five minuets with "help"!