As Army Wives, we pride ourselves on our ability to do
anything, when necessary. Mechanic,
landscaper, plumber, soccer coach, appliance repair, exterminator, boy scout camp counselor and general handyman are all
roles that come to mind. While my kids
aren’t old enough to do camping trips yet, I’ll lay claim to all of the above;
I’m really pretty useful to have around. My father raised a rather independent girl. He
was quite the Mr. Fix-It and I was a Daddy’s Girl, so I remember tagging along
on many of his adventures and some mis-adventures in various home and auto repair
tasks. I feel pretty confident with
painting, caulking, basic plumbing , basic woodworking, auto repair, power
tools and I’ve been known to mess around with electrical tasks, much to my
father’s dismay.
Sometimes, I feel a little bad for my husband because I tend
to be like my two-year-old. “Me do it BY MYSELF!” It’s a pride thing and, let’s be honest, it’s
just sort of bad-ass to know your way around a power tool. Am I right?
But, there are two areas where I draw the line: I don’t mow the lawn and I don’t grill. I know, these probably sound pretty silly to
my fellow Army Wives. I know, they aren’t
hard and I could do them, but I just don’t want to. (Two Year Old: “Me NO DO
IT!”)
Why don’t I mow lawns?
I’m not really sure, but I’ll go ahead and blame my parents. For some reason, my father taught me
everything except lawn mowing. They
always had my brother do it when we were teenagers. I remember mowing once. I made one pass
across the backyard and they sent my brother out to do it for me. I’m guessing that perhaps I was doing a
really terrible job? Although, it doesn’t
really seem that complicated. Regardless, I’m ok with not mowing the lawn. I
didn’t particularly enjoy it...it’s sweaty, the grass sticks to you, it takes a
hunk of time out of the day and it can be hard work when you’re trying to hurry
or have hills in the yard. So, I have no
desire to mow the lawn. Fortunately, I’m blessed with a husband that gets
tremendous satisfaction from a well mowed yard.
I know what my fellow Military Spouses are thinking: What about when he leaves, Ms. I-don’t-mow-lawns? Well, I still don’t mow lawns. I don’t enjoy it, so I don’t do it. I know I
can’t apply that reasoning to every unpleasant task, but let’s be honest…it’s
pretty easy to out-source my lawn mowing duties. I have twenty bucks and there are teen boys
that will do it for me. Deployments come
with lots of extra duties and I decided long ago that I would rather skip a few
Starbucks visits than mow the lawn.
As for grilling, I’m somewhat less adamant about that and I’m
even less sure about why I don’t do it.
It wasn’t a conscious decision. It was more of a realization. I bought steaks one day to grill, then
realized my husband was in the field and I didn’t know how to work the darned
thing. And, I had no desire to
learn. I think the crux of the matter is
that grilling is usually an event, a
family event, a social event or a party.
It wasn’t simply a means to provide food…it was an occasion. So, when my husband isn’t around to grill, I
don’t really want to anyway. Don’t get
me wrong, I’m not opposed to attending a cook out while my husband is away…I’ll
certainly attend but there’s usually someone else manning the grill, my dad or
a friend’s husband or something. I don’t
have to do it.
So there it is. I am
a Proud Army Spouse – Mom, Wife and SuperWoman, but I don’t mow lawns and I don’t
grill. What do you think about
that? Are there any tasks you refuse to
do?
