The Power Of A Ride On A Tractor

When I was little, my dad had a little John Deere lawn mower.  He used to attach a little wagon to that tractor and take us for rides while he would mow.  I used to think that was something that he did for us.

Today was probably one of the last nice days for a while.  As I got up and looked at the forecast, it said rain throughout the rest of the weekend.  So if I was going to cut the grass, it pretty much had to happen today.

There was only one thing that was going to keep me from getting my work done.  You see, the days when my son Maverick doesn’t have preschool are called Maverick-Daddy days where we can do anything we want together.  As long as I get some work done, I pretty much let him plan the rest of the day.

But today I had to get the lawn mowed.  If I didn’t do it today, it would be late next week before I’d have the chance again.  So I explained to him that it was really important for daddy to get this done and he said, “Ok…then lets do it together.”  Brilliant!  I would get to do my chores and he would get to ride around on the tractor with daddy just like I used to when I was a kid.

With all the things that kids have to keep them amused now like computers, DVDs and personal game systems, it’s harder for a parent to keep their kids busy with the things we used to play with.  Many kids are just not as imaginative as we were.  I mean really, do you know many kids who would choose jacks or hopscotch over a couple of minutes in front of a computer?

So when my son was ok with taking a ride on the tractor with his daddy over anything else that he could have done, I was ecstatic.

It took me a little extra time to mow today but I didn’t mind.  We took an extra couple laps around our lawn and then we went over and cut my neighbor’s grass.  I know he’s not going to be little forever.  So whenever he wants to take a ride on the tractor, I’m going to take him. 

And I always thought that my dad was taking us for rides to make us happy…

Photo courtesy of Flickr user  iChris .