Have you been doing any work out in your yard lately? Have your kids been “helping” you? I’ve been putting it off long enough but we finally had to get out the lawn mower and put it to work. You’ll understand that the first mow of the year involves far more than just mowing. There’s pre-mow work to be done. Branches to be cleaned up, garbage that has blown into your yard is finally revealed as the snow melts away, and toys, toys, toys. And don’t forget golf balls. Easily hidden in the long grass. Not optimum mowing material.
As I made a pre-mow tour around the yard I discovered something new. Something I had never come across in almost 20 years of child-rearing. A massive hole in the yard. I’ve come across many smaller holes. Maybe a few shovels of dirt removed before boredom sets in. You know the type. Maybe you even attempted to dig some yourself as a young one. You get together with your buddies and decide that today is the day you will dig a hole to China! Everyone goes home and arms themselves with dad’s shovels and spades so that when dad actually needs them later he’ll never find them. (I’m looking for some lost garden pruners at the moment, have you seen them?) You all dig for a few minutes and realize that China is farther down than you thought. Everyone drops their digging apparatuses and heads off to do something less labour-intensive like play with G.I. Joe or trade baseball cards.
My children skipped that last step of stopping the dig. Many shovels of dirt had been removed from this pit. Surely, they invested serious time and effort into this crater in our yard. I measured it. It was four feet wide and nearly four feet deep. My six-year-old son, Arrow, proudly came running when he saw me glaring into the ground at the chasm that could swallow a lawn mower. He was the mastermind behind the project. He must have recruited a team of siblings because I have a hard time believing he had the perseverance to nearly reach China. How he persuaded them to invest time in this project I may never know. With much volume I promptly declared to anyone within hearing distance, “This hole must be filled in!” At least one of the children heard me and without disappointment, said, “Okay, Dad. I thought you might say that.”
My pre-mow tour around the yard continued and I did find a few other holes that were only a shovel or two deep. It’s been a few days now and the holes have not been filled in. But now when I see them out in the yard I think maybe we’ll just leave them unfilled. Reminders of the excitement of childhood and the anticipation of coming out on the other side of the world. We dads sometimes need reminders about stuff like that, don’t we? Why not grab a shovel this weekend and dig some holes with your kids? If you’re strategic about it they could dig the holes in places where you want them! Time flies. Make every moment count! Even the holey ones.
Jason Weening has 10 kids who sometimes help him clean up around the yard. Need a Father’s Day gift? Get his new book on Amazon, “Yes, Dear…I’m Watching Them”