Dan recently went to an allergist who injected him all over with various substances and wrote on him with permanent marker. Much to my chagrin, a spot on his arm swelled up to the size of a small grapefruit, which did not to my surprise indicate that he is allergic to grapefruit but rather grass pollen. Seriously doctors are all quacks. They wouldn’t even investigate the grapefruit theory and I promise you his arm looked nothing like grass or pollen, but then, I’m no expert.
So my first question, considering the state of our lawn and the fact that I’m worried I may lose one of our children in there, was, “Should we hire a lawn boy or something?” Dan laughed it off but I am totally serious.
I am certainly capable of mowing the lawn and have done it on occasion, but I can’t do it with the kids present, considering Magoo’s habit of jumping in front of the running vacuum cleaner and trying to shove his hands into the spinning brushes.
Now if I ask Dan to get out and mow the lawn, I feel like I’m sweetly requesting that he head out to war in a land of hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers, where his death is imminent or he’ll at least face bouts of swelling in unknown regions. He says he’s fine (and DAN! He is fine. Mmmm! MY man.) but I’m not so sure I want to keep exposing him to allergens that make him miserable.
What do you pay a kid to mow your lawn these days? Considering the steep incline in babysitting rates, I have a feeling it’s more than I’d like to shell out.
We actually do pay someone to mow our lawn, but as we have nearly an acre and one of foreign soil, at that, not sure I can guess at the going rate for you.
Just get Dan one of those masks like firefighters wear.
hmm, the nut (my son) is also allergic to grass pollen. During grass season (which in AZ is about 10 months of the year) we keep him on allergy drugs to keep his symptoms at bay.
I was asking our allergist yesterday about grass in washington (because we are still considering the move), he said that the nuts allergies would be worse for about 6 weeks when everything pollinates, but that he should be fine the rest of the year (unlike here). So, the mere cutting of the grass may not expose the pollens…it might just be the season.
Get him some OTC Clartin and send him out to mow!
What if you mowed it on Saturdays when he’s home to watch the babies?
I have about a third of an acre and last year I paid almost $100 to a professional for the first mowing. The grass was almost a foot high and took them 2 hours. If some kid offered to mow, I’d pay minimum wage, based on an estimate of time. Don’t pay by the hour he might already know how to “milk the clock.” But you’d be supprised how little professional gardeners charge. Get a free estimate first.
I haven’t a clue on mowing charges, but I totally agree on the steep incline of babysitting rates!!!
I think Laylee and Magoo are rather young to be mowing the lawn, even for pay. Give ’em a few more months.
I LOVE mowing the lawn. Hubs and I fight over who gets to go outside and do it! You should consider doing it yourself.
I am pollenified, too. Pobrecito. 🙂
ALL he has to do is CUT the lawn before it flowers and goes to seed….. Yeah that it’s it .. if HE hadn’t taken so long to mow he wouldn’t be sneezing now…..
I bet Dan wishes he was married to me now….. 😉
I live in Northern Virginia and around here teenage guys generally expect 20-30 dollars a yard. This also depends if you just want it mowed or if you want them to use the string-trimmer on the edges of the sidewalk and everything. I’d say about 20 for just mowing and 30 if you count string-trimming.
My sister is the avid mower in her household, and I have been know to mow the front yard when the humiliation of a raggedy lawn gets to be too much… but I love the idea of hiring the job out. It would seem to me that maybe you could get a good deal if you had a contract?
I’d listen to Poppa2B and get y’self a free estimate… they could prolly make your lawn super lush and green too. You could be the envy of the neighborhood!
My hubs is allergic to all things outside. If he ends up cutting the grass, then I can expect to play nurse the next day. The kids (except for the ones with allergies) and I do the yard work. I actually enjoy it.
To pay a crew to come and do the work would cost about $30-50.
Waaaait a minute here. Did this “allergy” info come from a doctor you know and trust? Or is Dan just setting you up? How has he managed to mow the lawn the past 20 years of his life? He had a pretty big lawn growing up. Who mowed THAT lawn? Hmmm?
On a gentler note, I like the idea of you mowing on Saturday (or any evening when Dan’s home) while he watches the kids and cooks dinner and cleans the kitchen and folds some laundry. Sounds like a fair tradeoff.
(The visual of Magoo leaping in front of your vacuum and shoving his hands under it is great.)
I had one of those tests in high school. Fun. My super swollen one was cats. And darn it if I don’t have 2. I take shots now for allergies and that has revolutionized my life. I can have my cats and eat them too……oh wait, that’s cake.
I’m with everyone that says YOU mow on Saturdays, it’s a great workout! And after your done with yours, would you mind trimming up mine?
Couldn’t you just ask Dan to watch the kids – inside – while you mow outside?
Sounds like the easiest solution to me.
Our lawn is so small we could clip it with fingernail scissors. So we don’t “hire” anyone. I can do the whole thing in about 90 seconds, minus the edging.
I am allergic to grass to the point that if I walk through tall grass that has gone to seed, wearing shorts, my legs break out in hives. I love the smell of freshly mowed grass, but it makes me sneeze horribly. I just mow anyway. My allergy medicine helps a little, and taking a shower right after to get all the grassy things off helps too. I just hold a tissue in one hand while I mow. Maybe he will volunteer to mow it on his own and you won’t have to feel bad.
I wish I could mow my yard…we got 14 inches of snow last night and today
Give him a grapefruit to sqeeze all over himself right before he goes out to mow. That should do it.
Hire a lawn boy … think of the expense as purchasing blog fodder … maybe you can deduct it on your taxes LOL
Sometimes swelling in the unknown (unknown! yeah right!) regions is a good thing.
Lawn boy – We pay him $35 to mow and edge and we’ve got a big yard. Everyone else around here pays $40 but I batted my eyelashes because I am not above doing whatever it takes to save $5.
Yeah, um, I’m allergic to grass. And I mow the yard, because no one else is gonna do it.
Allergy medicine is your (Dan’s) friend.
I can’t believe you haven’t considered this, DYM: Just get all that removed gravel from the art at Dan’s work and replace your grass with that. Mowing finished. And it’s cheaper than paying an arm and a leg for the kid to chop it down… Maybe you should invest in a goat.
If all else fails, give Dan some Claritin and send him out the door. You pushed those babies out for goodness sake. I don’t think you should have to do any more pushing for a while…
Yes, he mowed the big lawn growing up and didn’t die. I mow it now, and he got his allergies from me. (I hate allergy medicines worse than allergies.) I’ve been mowing for close to a half century and it hasn’t killed me yet. (Don’t ask about snowblowing, though…)
feeling so glad we rent and aren’t in charge of our dead yard… also, i’m old fashioned. mowing is a man’s job. also, i’m compassionate. Hire a lawn boy.
We give the mini-thug across the street $10 to mow the front and back yards every week or so.