[September 4, 2026] As a small child, about 10 years of age, I received a push lawnmower for use to earn a few dollars and mowing our backyard. My hard lesson was delivered in a way that I still remain embarrassed about it, and it preceded me earning any money at all.
This is how the story played itself out. My Dad had given me the job of mowing our home’s backyard grass. It was unfortunate for him that it required reminding me, if I were to get out there and do my duty as a mower of grass. One time, the lawn was getting pretty shaggy and, mind you, the push mower blades were getting dull; really dull.
I must have been in one of my emotional moods because after mowing the backyard, including up close to the wooden fence, Dad was pretty mad about me still missing large areas of the yard. He told me that the grass would soon be so tall that a push mower couldn’t navigate it.
Dad believed that, “If you do a job, you do it right, or not at all,” and, of course I said that “I had no idea that ‘not at all’ was an option.” And, yes, ‘not at all’ is rarely an option; at least not in the world where things get done.
But Dad didn’t push the idea until about eight in the evening after it was very very dark. He just opened the back door, letting out just a small bit of light from the kitchen, and told me to go finish the job.
My Mom was not pleased, being school night and all, but she knew I was about to learn a valuable manly lesson. And, there were several lessons. I couldn’t put them into words at the time but they were there nonetheless: “finish what you start,” “do a good job,” “don’t complain or act the victim,” “don’t try to get out of your chores,” and “do as you are told (by your parents).”
For years after that, as long as I had that push mower, I mowed the backyard as nearly perfect as I could. A neighbor showed me how to sharpen the blades, making the job much easier. Sure, I was going to suffer in the summer heat and humidity, and I would sometimes not get paid for work, but that was life and I had better “get with it.”
My Mom was fond of saying that it’s better to learn when you’re a kid, or you’ll regret learning those same lessons as an adult. Thanks Mom.
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Please read my books:
Great lessons in having a job as a kid.
It’s always fun to read about Gen. Satterfield as a kid. Hard lessons! Yep!