Painting my fence has been a project that needed to be completed before winter. A month ago I bought paint and new brushes. A week later I spent the weekend power-washing the fence to remove loose paint and dirt. I was proud of my accomplishments to date so I decided to take a three week break before actually painting. Instead I spent time having fun, yet still worrying each weekend that the window of opportunity to paint outdoors would end soon.
Sunday, with my daughter recruited for the project, we painted. While I thought Princess Daisy would paint for ten minutes, declare she was bored, and leave me to play, I was shocked to receive five hours of help from her. That wasn’t the only surprise on Sunday; I also realized I am more clever than Tom Sawyer (or maybe I just have really nice friends).
Tom Sawyer was given the punishment of white-washing Aunt Polly’s fence. While Tom was dreading the project, he was able to convince his friends it was fun and recruit help. Not only did I receive the help of friends, but I also had dinner delivered to me. A day I had dreaded for weeks was actually a day filled with laughter, good conversation, appreciation for friendship, and a great meal.
The unexpected benefits from the day:
- Princess Daisy and I enjoyed spending interruption-free time talking about a variety of topics. It was a great opportunity to connect with no distractions or interruptions.
- My daughter feels pride over learning to paint and a sense of accomplishment with what she has done to help improve our home.
- I was appreciative to have a neighbor show up with Jambalaya he made, knowing I would be too tired to cook. Having a big container of it in my refrigerator for dinner was a blessing when my stomach was grumbling and my back was aching.
- It was nice to have friends help us, worried we would not complete it before the temperature dropped. It became even more fun as a result.
I spent a fun day with my daughter, laughed with friends, recognized how blessed for the friendships I have, and felt a sense of accomplishment to complete a big project.
Each time I open my beautiful white picket gate, I will remember the day and the support of others that went into completing the project.
And now that it is finished, I plan to get back to my essential weekend activities–
Fun activities with my kids
Reading a book by the fire
Taking a nap
Comments
10 responses to “Tom Sawyer Didn’t Get Dinner Delivered”
That is awesome that your daughter helped you. My kids sometimes do stuff like that to help me.
Justin-
It was great to get the help and I enjoyed spending the time with her. It was a fun day–surprisingly since I was dreading the project!
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Great blog! Couldn’t help but remember the quote to George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. “No man is a failure who has friends”!
Great quote Carol! I KNOW the fence wouldn’t have been painted and I would have gone to bed hungry without friends helping me that day.
Love it! So often something I put off ends up being not nearly as bad as I’ve anticipated…or, like here, a really nice experience. :)
Kate,
That was my experience with this project; it was an enjoyable experience that I put off for weeks!
Reading a book by the fire sounds divine! Your daughter should be indeed so proud of herself! And srly in this day and age you can still find neighbors like that? Wow.
Yes, I have a great daughter and wonderful neighbors. I am very fortunate.
I wish more of my life could be compared to a scene imagined by Mark Twain!
It was a really nice day. I even think my neighbor who was grumbling about how much he hated painting fences (with paintbrush in hand) had fun.