Growing Boys

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You’re tearing up the grass." "We’re not raising grass," my dad would reply, "we’re raising boys."
–Harmon Killebrew

Last week Kevin and I (mostly Kevin) spent time raking the yard to clear out the dead grass and try to get some grass to grow. On all three sides of our house our neighbors have thick green grass that is almost always cut cleanly and weed free. Our yard also has thick, green grass.... where there is any grass at all.

The large patch of dead grass in the front yard is partially due to the crab grass we've been trying to kill for years but mostly caused by the hours of Cooper and I running in the sprinkler. Back and forth we go, over the water, under the curtain of coldness that makes him shrieke with delight. To one side of our house you can see a foot path leading to the backyard. The many, many trips Cooper and I make (now often with a stroller to bring Parker along with us) lead us to his child-sized trampoline where somehow he always gets me in to jump with him.

His swing, which now is too small for him and more suited for Parker shows more signs of our play. Under the swing is large patch of dead grass from hours of standing and giving underdogs and "rocket" pushes, of converstaions about the birds that sing to us and the clouds that Cooper wants to try to touch with his feet, of him telling me about his day and playing with his friends (and me wishing I could have that time back to have spent with him.)

Across the yard is Cooper's slide, which most often is his pirate ship we use to sail to Grandpa Dougie's. If I don't keep moving the "ship" around the yard there would be another dead patch there too. All the round and round we do going up and down the slide (yes WE) either me chasing him, him chasing me, him riding on my lap or creating a train and going down together.



Cooper



Parker



It seems that maybe we'd be better off laying turf in the yard for the next 18 years instead of grass seed. With Parker trying his hardest to get moving on his knees, it won't be long before we have another set of little feet running in the grass. I can't wait.