I have not always been a mom who mows. At the beginning of our marriage and when we had very small babies, I DID NOT mow! I felt like my job was the house and keeping the tiny children alive, and the outside of the house was my husband’s domain! It worked for us for a few years, until it didn’t anymore.
My husband works a pretty stressful and demanding job with a schedule that is always changing. He often has to work overtime and the last thing he wants to do on a day off is spend a few hours in the Texas heat mowing the yard. {Let’s be honest the last thing ANY of us want to do is get heatstroke mowing in the summer}
This means our yard can end up looking like a jungle before we scramble to find someone to come mow or my husband finally has a moment off and spends a few of his precious free hours mowing.
About 5 or so years ago, I realized that if I was going to ask him to help me with the inside of the house that he needed help with the outside from me! Because we are partners, not roommates! That could mean me finding someone to take over the job or for me to roll up my sleeves and starting up the mower! And let’s be real, it’s cheaper to do the job yourself!
Luckily I have experience because mowing was a popular method of punishment for me as a teenager. And there were MANY opportunities for me to work on my mowing skills over the years! {Sorry mom}
I’ll admit I am not the best, and I am probably not as meticulous as my husband is when he is caring for our yard. It took me a few years to work up the courage to learn how to work the weed eater, I still struggle with that machine occasionally.
But I can get the job done!
At the beginning, I would send him pictures of me mowing while he was at work and he would be shocked and thankful! And it would make me feel really good! I still love surprising him with a mowed yard, it’s actually become one of my favorite things. Because he is so grateful and I can physically see the stress of that chore leave his shoulders.
He is still our lead lawncare taker in the house, and more often than not he is the one who mows and makes our yard look nice.
But I have learned how to read the signs and notice when he is getting overwhelmed with work and the thought of having to mow. It is in these times that I will either jump in and tag team the chore with him so that it doesn’t have to take quite as long to get done, or I will wait until he is working nights and I will surprise him with a mowed yard taking the pressure off of him completely.
And honestly, he does the same with inside chores, like laundry or dishes. There are so many times I will come home from some errand to a spotless house or an empty laundry hamper. It is in these times that I am so grateful for the partnership that we have built over the last {almost} 10 years married.
I write this not because I think all moms need to be outside mowing for their partners, or that you need to go steal the riding lawnmower. But because I want to encourage you to find what works for your family! What is a chore that your partner typically handles themselves? Maybe ask them if they could use some help, or where they are struggling.
The first 5 years of our relationship my husband took care of our yard 100% on his own. He often mowed before heading off to work a 12-hour night shift. He did this without complaint, but that doesn’t mean it was without struggle.
It took communication and working together as partners to realize that we didn’t need to split our chores quite so cut and dry and that honestly, we feel it benefits our children to see us both taking on different things around the house to help each other out!