I am warning you now: this is an angry post. Okay, I lie, not super angry, but relatively angry. Like, the kind where you seethe about it all day long, but you're too afraid to do anything about it.
Let me just tell you the story.
I live in a house. The house has a yard. The first summer that Jesse and I lived in the house, we did an amazing job working in the yard. The second summer I was pregnant, in school, working, and doing an internship. Needless to say, I did not have much time to work in the yard. Jesse was also in school and working 30-40 hrs. a week. When I had Abigail I realized that in order to keep up with her and the inside of the house, that some things must be neglected for now: the yard. So for the third summer, I am a mom and trying to figure out when I can shower for the day. Jesse is working 7:30 am -5:30 pm and then he's gone for school from 8 pm - whenever he gets done (I've been told that he may not come home at all when deadlines hit). Yay. So. The yard looks--not horrible--but not fabulous either.
This morning I went outside for my morning run. Outside my door I found a sign that read, "Please take pride in your yard and home by keeping it looking nice! Your neighbors will appreciate it!" The first thing I did was notice how poorly phrased the sentence seemed. The second thing I did was cry. The third was to get angry and grow a perma-scowl for the rest of the day. I know I shouldn't let it bother me, but it makes me feel ostracized from the neighborhood and makes me feel defiant about taking care of my yard. I just needed to cry this out to somebody. I'm sad that my neighbors are annoyed by us. I feel guilty that it doesn't look any better. And I wish that I could find time and resources to fix it. Overall, I feel embarrassed, hurt, and angry. And I may just not mow my lawn this week.
3 comments:
Don't worry Lauren. Our yard has been put on the back burner too. We live in a neighborhood where all the men are retired and have all this time to spend outside in their yard and ours just looks like a jungle compared to theirs so I know how you feel to be looked down by your neighbors. :)
i think you have the LAMEST neighbors in the ENTIRE WORLD!!! seriously, it makes me mad thinking about it. it is none of their d*** business what you do with your yard. they have NO IDEA what you guys may or may not be going through and they can just SHOVE that sign where the sun don't shine.
You're probably over this by now, and I realize that I'm commenting on your blog a lot, but don't worry what those people think. Someone who puts a sign like that on your door and doesn't have the guts to say something to you in person deserves only to be ignored. These are likely the same people who constantly ask, "So when are you gonna get married?" and then when you finally do, start asking, "So when are you gonna have kids?" then when you have one, say, "When are you gonna have more?"
These are people with an underdeveloped sense of propriety and no tact, and they will never go away. You just have to learn to ignore them. A person who actually would "appreciate it" would not be someone who would say, "Take care of your yard." Rather, they would say, "Hey - since I've taken the chance to get to know you now, I can see how much you have on your plate. Would you like some help with anything? I could come over and mow your lawn this week if it would help you out."
Post a Comment