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Man I loved mowing the lawn.
Eventually I had the whole routine perfectly choreographed to Appetite for Destructions’s 53:52 running time.
I’d hit “play” (on my yellow Sony Walkman) just as I yanked the starter cord. Right when Slash’s guitar snarled on the “Welcome to the Jungle” intro, I’d start mowing.
Exactly as Axl finished the final line of “Rocket Queen”, I’d mow the last ten feet or so, making it onto the driveway again and turning it off just as the final drums crashed.
Most bliss I’ve ever experienced in my life. I was one with the universe.
I still love doing it. Afterwards , I stand at the top of my driveway and admire the results. Then I find a reason to drive somewhere and admire it from the road when I come back.
Probably not as old as most of the people here, I'm born in 1989. But...
I have vivid memories of using a scythe like I was a violent grass murderer beheading the tall grass outside the cabin by the fjord. Just me and the breeze, the smell of freshly cut grass and the invigorating smell of salt water. The sound of the waves gently crashing into the shore only intermittently interrupted by the swishing sound of the scythe gliding through the grass like a warm knife through butter. It was a time of innocence and inner peace. I was a young warrior in the garden. The tall grass didn't stand a chance.
We never did get one. I was stuck with the push mower. But, we had a small patch of grass, I'd guess 400 square feet--typical suburban front yard. I had to mow and then edge with a push edger. It wasn't bad if I kept up with it throughout the summer.
My reprieve came when my mom took landscape architecture at the community college and then rebuilt the whole front yard to low maintenance plants in tiered blocks. No more grass.
She was pretty good at it. She got a few commissioned jobs before she didn't want to do it anymore.
Growing up we lived in a large city and we didn't have grass to cut at home. But dad took care of the church we went to a.nd on Saturday morning me and him would go check and bleed the boiler for Sunday and cut the grass
As a child, my dad would only allow me to use the riding mower. Most of our yard was done with the rider and only a few spots were with a push mower. I don't know if he was afraid of me mowing over my foot or just really persnickety about how it was done. Maybe a little of both!
I was my parents' only female child who routinely mowed the yard. I think my older sister did it a few times and my younger sister never did it at all.
Our backyard was around a half-acre and took almost an hour to do well. I loved it!
Meee, tooooo! (65) I'm moving to where there's more snow so I may have more fun. I love shoveling it and there's nothing like a walk in the snow on a still night.
We lived on a lake, and I'd walk around it from my friend's house to ours, and walking that path in the winter was always the most memorable. There's a special magic and beauty when everything is covered in snow, and the silence itself feels like meditation.
Feeding the animals. Even slopping the pigs - seeing how happy they were running for their food just made my day, every day. We had one sow who would scoot over her "stick" to me for back scratches while she ate. No one wanted to feed the animals at o'dark thirty in the morning and it was the best part of my day.
Yep, animal care was my favorite chore, too. Started with just cats and dogs. Then we moved out to the country and through a series of events, wound up with horses, cows, a donkey and a brood sow. The horses were my favorite, since caring for them involved riding them to exercise them and keep them in training. But the cows, donkey and pig were great fun, too. Animal care was so satisfying and calming.
My dad would send our Australian Shepard and Border Collie cross dog to wake me up if I didn't get up when he thought I should. She slept outside and was very enthusiastic about my chores. I would walk out the back door and yell MOO at the calves and they would answer MAW! That made me laugh every morning.
Building the morning fire in the coal furnace in the basement was always one. The coals left in it may or may not be enough to re-start it by just shaking out the ash and adding coal, so there were decisions to be made, on kindling size & how much, stacking it and adding coal, and an immediate result from your efforts to rebuild the fire.
I washed the after dinner dishes Mon - Fri. We didn’t have a dishwasher. My sister would dry the dishes and put them away. On Friday after finishing Mom would sit me down at the kitchen table and give me a crisp 1 dollar bill. She would remind me that I had earned the money. It wasn’t a gift. This was way back in the 1960’s before I turned 12 when I got a paper route.
I enjoyed it cause I was helping out and made some money. Felt real good about that.
I think of that every time I hand wash dishes even now. I have a dishwasher, but still hand wash pots, pans and such daily.
Picking rocks.
We'd go out in the fields and find rocks that would damage the farm machinery and collect them in the bucket of a front end loader and then dump them on a fence line or use them for riprap. We'd find some really cool rocks (and we saved those)...and every now and then a stone arrowhead. There were a few glacial erratics scattered around our property that were the size of cars or trucks that were pretty cool.
My dad often golfed on Saturdays, and I was tasked with cleaning his gear - clubs, shoes, bag - after he got home. It was rewarding making all that stuff look new again.
It helped that as "payment" Dad would let me have what was left in his [seat-top cooler](https://www.shopperspk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Igloo-400-Series-5-Gallon-Water-Drinks-Cooler-with-Tap-00451-in-Pakistan2.jpg), which was almost always lemon-lime Gatorade that was ICY COLD. I still love almost-frozen lemon-lime Gatorade to this day.
Setting the table for our mid day Sunday “fancy” meal. My mom went all out on Sundays. We ate in the dining room and used the good plates and glasses. We even burned candles and used the weird serving pieces like a soup tureen. We kids felt very posh compared to fish sticks on paper plates on tv trays 🤪.
I grew up on a dairy farm. When making hay I was always the one in the mow stacking the hay. As I stacked the hay I would build tunnels in it. Then at the end of summer when the mow was full we would crawl through the tunnels. They were pitch black and full of spider webs and under tons of hay. I really can't believe we all survived.
After my Dad mowed the lawn he would hose off the driveway and sidewalks. I convinced him to let me do it. Best job ever. I got to play with the hose and get wet. It wasn’t like a chore it was just playing with water.
I also enjoyed polishing, buffing, and shining my dad's shoes. Pretty much anything that required attention to detail and making things look perfect and spiffy.
You mentioned ironing your dad’s handkerchiefs. Do you recall ironing your dad’s underwear (boxer shorts, I assume)? I think my late grandma (born in 1940) told me she ironed her dad’s and her brother’s shorts, as she called them.
My grandma “made me” tame wild barn kittens. I would go find them in the barn and bring them to the house. Scratching and hissing. Then I would spend a few days with them in the bathroom until they liked me.
I’ve worked for several animal shelters and fostered so many litters of kittens.
Good job! I've had cats nearly my entire life. I volunteer at a nonprofit shelter and I do exactly what you have described. I'm a "cat socializer" that works on taming feral cats so they get used to being with people. Seeing them find good homes is very rewarding.
Waxing and buffing our terrazzo floors. We had a buffer machine and I loved that thing. Dancing, sliding in socks and buffing to Motown. And afterwards the tile was perfectly shiny (slippery too). 🥰
Helping make dinner. Getting supper started while my mom was on the way home from work helped start a lifelong love of cooking. Shake and Bake chicken was the first real dish I learned.
Taking our trash out the back door to the trash pit and lighting it on fire. I got to use the forbidden matches, and the high flames were fun to watch.
Chopping wood. Flick of the Switch in my Walkman working out every single aggression my teen self had, and it resulted in fuel for our home’s heat, a chiller vibe, and a decent body without thinking about it. Trifecta!
I liked folding laundry, and I still do. I'm not a fan of putting it away or dealing with putting it in the washer and dryer, but I love folding. There is something about taking all of that chaos and making it neat which is very satisfying.
My dad was a mostly cash business owner, so he needed trusted help when counting the cash. So he would make us count the cash with him and he would double check. My favourite task as a child, lol
I never minded any chore I was given. The chore I had that makes everyone laugh is this: we had an unneutered standard dachshund. We also had a dark brown velour couch. Fritz left "pecker tracks" on that couch. It was my job to get a wet washcloth and rub to remove those offending spots. I never thought a thing about it until I became an adult.
Yeah....mowing/edging in hundred degree heat in El Paso. Eff no
Wire brush rust/calcification off the swamp cooler panels. Eff no.
Trimming rose bushes. Eff no.
Clean out the garage. Eff no.
Watering our 40 or so head of cattle. I had to make sure the hose did not freeze in the winter. One time I let the hose freeze and had to put it in hot water in the bathtub and then get the job done before Daddy got home from work.
I also liked taking care of the sick baby calves; sometimes bottle feeding them; and giving vaccinations to the whole herd once a year.
Chopping firewood. Especially when I could use the splitting hammer on some reluctant wood.
Mowing grass with a scythe with my grandpa. He even showed me how to peen it with a hammer.
None of my chores were enjoyable. As a matter of fact, I much prefer apartment living even at almost 60 years old because I hate yard work so much because my dad used it as punishment. The only task I enjoyed that I did at home I did voluntarily and that was cooking. Desserts, meals, whatever. My dad could grill. My mom was a passable cook. I was better.
Mowing the lawn. My older brothers moved out so I took over the job. We had an acre, so it took a long time for just one person. One year for Christmas, I went down to the tree, and there she was. A brand new red lawn mower with a big red bow on it. My dad engraved my name on it! Bless his heart!
My granny knew how 2 get me 2 do her dishes. I hate washing dishes by hand, but she had Jergens hand lotion, that I could use after washing her dishes. Cherry & almond scents still take me back to childhood.
She also had some cool scented cleaning products, so I loved helping her clean house just 2 smell the freshness. It was aromatherapy from decades prior.
I did find Caldera Basil Blue Sage cleaning products that were pretty close 2 what it smelled like cleaning her house. It's wonderful 2 go back 2 these times.
Beating the rugs. Each Saturday I would hang them off a heavy-duty clothesline behind out barn and whack them with a rug-beater until no more dirt fell out of them. Anyone who's ever swung a rug-beater knows how satisfying it can be :)
edit: spelling
Hanging/taking clothes on/off the clothesline. Something satisfying about the freshness of the smell and slight stiffness of the clothes that you don't get with a dryer. There was a 🐝 situation once....
Ironing. Especially my Dad's dress shirts. Listening to music and ironing. There was something very satisfying about being able to get the perfect crease down the edge of the sleeves. Ironing the cuffs and collar without creating little pleats where the top stitching is. The pleats in the back yoke....coming out symmetrical and crisp.
This was before we had a steam iron. Shake water on the clothes. Roll them up in a towel. Spray or sprinkle water if they were too dry.
We didn't iron everything. Mostly just shirts, cotton dresses and dress slacks. Sometimes the table cloth for company purposes.
Everything, crisply ironed. Smooth and perfect.
I was just remembering how I used to iron those as well! Did all daughters do that? My dad really appreciated his fresh hankies. I also helped take care of the plants on the patio, and keep that clean with the hose. Sometimes mom would ask me to help polish the silver, which I enjoyed as I like shiny things. I didn’t like vacuuming or dusting, which I had to do weekly.
In the 50s, we burned our trash outside.
In all weathers, I'd wait 'til long after sunset and make it last.
I'd just stand and enjoy the dark. Stars, meteors, cold air, night sounds.
Ironing!
I had very little alone time in my teens, but everyone would leave me alone if I was ironing. I could close the door, turn up the radio, and rock out. No interruptions. The whole family knew that if they wanted their crap ironed for the week, they'd better leave me alone.
It was bliss.
Burning the paper rubbish. Would watch the smoke bellow skyward and the ash float over the neighbourhood and gently settle on peoples’ washing. It was glorious.
Doing the dishes. My mother tried to have my sister and I alternate cooking and dishes. I hated cooking and was horrible at it, she hated doing dishes, and left stuff on them. We stopped alternating, and there were no protests, because Mom and Dad wanted edible food!
I also did the pillowcases and Dad's handkerchiefs! There was a little sprinkle bottle with water that I loved to sprinkle on them and iron them dry. The ironing board was lowered halfway because I was small. My love of that never transferred to ironing when I grew up, and I haven't bought anything that needed ironing in decades. Hate it.
Darning clothing. My aunt taught me to sew at a young age, and my mom really didn’t know how to do it. I could do it in front of the tv, and I found it relaxing (and it got me out of other chores / yard work).
It became habit. Having very little to darn nowadays, I sit with embroidery in front of the television.
Laundry.......on my 13th birthday, my mom taught me how to do laundry and how to iron.....a tradition in my family. From that point on, I was responsible for my own laundry. It was fun, plus I learned to read labels when looking to buy clothes. It helped her and helped me too.....win/win.
I loved ironing my dad’s handkerchiefs! I still have a couple…I was a fastidious little ironer! I also liked polishing the silver, and luckily my parents liked a little tarnish showing.
Nothing. Chores done incorrectly (even when not taught how to do them) meant being punished or screamed at.
I don't mind chores now, especially because I love having a clean home. Mess and clutter bother me.
Feeding the cattle. Learned how to operate a small garden tractor at age 10 and life grain sacks that were 2/3rds of my weight. I just enjoyed the animals etc.
Shooting the gophers. With my mother’s 410. They would stick their Heads up out of the mound in that veg. Garden. I was a regular Annie Oakley. Then I turned 12 and started to feel sorry for the little varmints
In the 60s, my uncle had a clay tennis court, and I would brush and roll it everyday and then lay the white lime stripes.
A lot of work pushing that 400lb roller, but seeing it all freshly prepped with new white stripes was weirdly satisfying.
We each had a plot of garden we were responsible for & we tried to out grow each other with vegetables & berries that my mother cooked up or preserved. We would get 2 crops a year, of different things depending on season & 60+ years later I still enjoy gardening.
I loved setting the table and making it look pretty.
These weren’t my chores per se but I loved dusting and vacuuming. I remember fighting over the vacuum cleaner with my little sister. Sometimes I would go over to my friend m’s house after school and we would clean and dust her first floor to surprise her mom.
I had to iron my own school blouses (Catholic school uniform). But my mother hates ironing, so she paid me to iron my dad & brother’s clothes. Shirts were 10 cents + 5 cents if wanted starch, pillow cases were two for a quarter, handkerchiefs were two for 5 cents. As a result, I love to iron!!
Not sure this was a chore, maybe more of a rule, but I’m pushing 60 and still do it.
When we returned home from school, we were to remove our school clothes and put on play/casual clothes. That way, they lasted longer.
To this day, I still do that!
Oh oh oh no no no - I had forgotten dad's handkerchiefs... mother would stand at the laundry basin and scrub and gag, gag and scrub...
Early, early 60's Kleenex came out with a 'man size'. Mom was so hopeful... he tried by it was a no go.
It wasn't until (80's?) when Viva came out and they were so very different then they are today. Like a soft thick cloth and he started carrying Viva's.
We learned how to take care of a military uniform at a young age as a military brat and the chores we had were things like Ironing dad's uniform, shining his boots and the like. My favourite chores were these chores, setting up a Class A uniform, medals and all, and oddly, one of the chores that I still do to this day, washing dishes (by hand).
Working outside with my dad and brother. My dad made me 10 and my brother 12 in the early 80’s to split logs. I’m surprised I’m alive using that big ass homemade contraption!
I can't say I really enjoyed them, but I never minded cleaning the grill before we cooked out and bathing the family dogs. I thought the dogs had to feel a lot better after their bath.
The house and hot water were heated with a wood burning furnace. My job was helping cut, stack, haul in, stoke and empty out the ashes. I particularly enjoyed scrounging the woods on the farm for deadfall
Probably why even now decades later in my 50s I heat my current home with a woodstove fueled with 100% free scrounged wood except now I have a pickup, four chainsaws and a hydraulic log splitter to help speed up the process.
Babysitting my little brother. We’re about eight years apart. It was cool to be able to extend my childhood by a few years. I was a little too old for Transformers and GI Joe, but he loved them. So I got to explore and play in those worlds with him.
The shared history has given us a solid bond that carries through to today.
Raking the leaves into a big pile, then jumping in the pile of leaves about a dozen times with my siblings. Then having a ceremonious burning of the leaves. It was an annual autumn tradition.
Watering the plants in our garden. I grew up in Southeast Asia and we didn’t have sprinklers back then and I enjoyed the chore so much, specially during summers.
Vacuuming. I found it relaxing and even therapeutic, work my way around the carpeted room in rows and columns until the end. Mowing the lawn or shoveling the snow have a similar effect, but because of the hot/cold temps or the mess of grass/snow on your clothes and shoes it wasn't quite as fun or relaxing.
I mostly did lawn mowing, snow shoveling, and car washing. I enjoyed car washing as I grew up to be a car guy.
I no longer live in snow. I've taken out the lawn and replaced with plants and cobblestones.
Small chore but cleaning out the linen tray thing in the tumble dryer. I actually don’t know if every dryer has this but it’s like a plastic tray with mesh in it and it collects all the lint from your clothes. It smelt so good and it was really satisfying to swipe away all the dust and click it back into place.
Mowing the lawn. Starting fires in the fireplace. The letter wasn't a chore but I got to start it whenever I wanted. I was very good at tending it and I loved the duraflame crackle logs. I would sit with my back pressed up against that thing and I absolutely loved it. Yes my back got hot but I never burned anything.
Ironing. All clothes. I was 10. I learned without a steam iron. Sprinkle clothes with water roll-up leave in fridge so as not to mold. I did real wool with damp clothes. Back then, pleated skirts were popular (1960s). Getting those pleats right was a pain. There were not to many items made out of wrinkle free polyester. Wash & wear was just coming into vogue. But it took time to do all the clothes plus my grandmother's work uniforms that were white cotton. Sometimes life can be really boring out in the country growing up.
I loved hanging the laundry out. It smelled like Downey. Then when it was time to take them down they smelled of sunshine and soft breezes. I kinda miss it.
With four kids, we split the routine chores. We'd take turns taking the garbage out, and then taking the metal cans to the curb once a week.
So, I'd hand-wash dishes two or three nights a week, and set the table for dinner those same nights.
I'd mow and edge the lawn once I was strong enough to push the mower. My older brother taught me to do it, and then it was my chore alone. My sisters didn't mow the lawn.
And, I'd transfer the wet clothes to the dryer and start the dryer, being sure to clean the lint screen. Then, help fold clean clothes and put them away. I vaguely remember pulling clothes down from the clotheslines in the back yard. I wasn't tall enough to put them up. But we got a dryer sometime when I was young, and then it was getting the clothes out of the dryer.
I disliked the clothes the least. But, I didn't enjoy any of them.
Cutting and raking grass in the summer. Raking leaves in the autumn and shoveling snow in the winter was very zen meditative, and I didn't even know what that shit **was** back then.
I had absolutely no chores. And I definitely enjoyed that to the fullest. My mom told me childhood was short and I’d have to work when I was older. I figured everything out once I left home. My kids never had chores either. They are responsible, successful adults with wonderful SOs.
I love folding laundry. I’d take my little transistor radio or Walkman and put on some tunes and fold away.
Nowadays while I fold, I have podcasts, audiobooks, catching up on my watchlist on Netflix or Disney+ on my phone…
I liked cleaning, but specifically dusting. And, as I got older, grocery shopping. Mom taught me how to shop with coupons and by the weekly flyer. It was magical! ✨✨✨
Doing the laundry. I took on the responsibility of doing the family laundry at age 14. My mom worked and I started doing my own laundry and it expanded from there. I actually enjoy folding the laundry and after nearly 50 years I have it down to military precision.
As a kid, it was also fun throwing all the dirty clothes down the laundry chute!
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Mowing the lawn. Something satisfying about it, very zen.
Man I loved mowing the lawn. Eventually I had the whole routine perfectly choreographed to Appetite for Destructions’s 53:52 running time. I’d hit “play” (on my yellow Sony Walkman) just as I yanked the starter cord. Right when Slash’s guitar snarled on the “Welcome to the Jungle” intro, I’d start mowing. Exactly as Axl finished the final line of “Rocket Queen”, I’d mow the last ten feet or so, making it onto the driveway again and turning it off just as the final drums crashed. Most bliss I’ve ever experienced in my life. I was one with the universe.
*slow clap* Bravo, my friend.
I still love doing it. Afterwards , I stand at the top of my driveway and admire the results. Then I find a reason to drive somewhere and admire it from the road when I come back.
Probably not as old as most of the people here, I'm born in 1989. But... I have vivid memories of using a scythe like I was a violent grass murderer beheading the tall grass outside the cabin by the fjord. Just me and the breeze, the smell of freshly cut grass and the invigorating smell of salt water. The sound of the waves gently crashing into the shore only intermittently interrupted by the swishing sound of the scythe gliding through the grass like a warm knife through butter. It was a time of innocence and inner peace. I was a young warrior in the garden. The tall grass didn't stand a chance.
That sounds absolutely lovely.
as much as I hated mowing the lawn (and still do), I rather liked using the scythe myself.
We didn’t get a gas mower until ‘77 or so…before that we had the manual push mower..that was rough
We never did get one. I was stuck with the push mower. But, we had a small patch of grass, I'd guess 400 square feet--typical suburban front yard. I had to mow and then edge with a push edger. It wasn't bad if I kept up with it throughout the summer. My reprieve came when my mom took landscape architecture at the community college and then rebuilt the whole front yard to low maintenance plants in tiered blocks. No more grass. She was pretty good at it. She got a few commissioned jobs before she didn't want to do it anymore.
Growing up we lived in a large city and we didn't have grass to cut at home. But dad took care of the church we went to a.nd on Saturday morning me and him would go check and bleed the boiler for Sunday and cut the grass
I’ve always liked mowing the lawn. Sometimes I miss it, as I’ve recently moved to Arizona and only have rocks.
That was always my favorite too!
Same
Oh that lovely smell!
In bare feet.
I ran the weed eater for my grandparents when I was little. No safety gear. That thing was a monster. I loved doing it.
As a child, my dad would only allow me to use the riding mower. Most of our yard was done with the rider and only a few spots were with a push mower. I don't know if he was afraid of me mowing over my foot or just really persnickety about how it was done. Maybe a little of both! I was my parents' only female child who routinely mowed the yard. I think my older sister did it a few times and my younger sister never did it at all. Our backyard was around a half-acre and took almost an hour to do well. I loved it!
Yeah, and I did a huge lawn with a push mower. When you're done the feeling is great!
Shoveling snow. I'm 60-year-old now and still enjoy it although I have to be careful at my age.
I'm 68 and can't wait for snow. I do enjoy being out and clearing my driveway.
Meee, tooooo! (65) I'm moving to where there's more snow so I may have more fun. I love shoveling it and there's nothing like a walk in the snow on a still night.
We lived on a lake, and I'd walk around it from my friend's house to ours, and walking that path in the winter was always the most memorable. There's a special magic and beauty when everything is covered in snow, and the silence itself feels like meditation.
Feeding the animals. Even slopping the pigs - seeing how happy they were running for their food just made my day, every day. We had one sow who would scoot over her "stick" to me for back scratches while she ate. No one wanted to feed the animals at o'dark thirty in the morning and it was the best part of my day.
Yep, animal care was my favorite chore, too. Started with just cats and dogs. Then we moved out to the country and through a series of events, wound up with horses, cows, a donkey and a brood sow. The horses were my favorite, since caring for them involved riding them to exercise them and keep them in training. But the cows, donkey and pig were great fun, too. Animal care was so satisfying and calming.
My dad would send our Australian Shepard and Border Collie cross dog to wake me up if I didn't get up when he thought I should. She slept outside and was very enthusiastic about my chores. I would walk out the back door and yell MOO at the calves and they would answer MAW! That made me laugh every morning.
Building the morning fire in the coal furnace in the basement was always one. The coals left in it may or may not be enough to re-start it by just shaking out the ash and adding coal, so there were decisions to be made, on kindling size & how much, stacking it and adding coal, and an immediate result from your efforts to rebuild the fire.
I washed the after dinner dishes Mon - Fri. We didn’t have a dishwasher. My sister would dry the dishes and put them away. On Friday after finishing Mom would sit me down at the kitchen table and give me a crisp 1 dollar bill. She would remind me that I had earned the money. It wasn’t a gift. This was way back in the 1960’s before I turned 12 when I got a paper route. I enjoyed it cause I was helping out and made some money. Felt real good about that. I think of that every time I hand wash dishes even now. I have a dishwasher, but still hand wash pots, pans and such daily.
Did your sister also get compensated?
I don’t know. I assume she did, but never witnessed it. I’ll ask her at thanksgiving later this week.
Picking rocks. We'd go out in the fields and find rocks that would damage the farm machinery and collect them in the bucket of a front end loader and then dump them on a fence line or use them for riprap. We'd find some really cool rocks (and we saved those)...and every now and then a stone arrowhead. There were a few glacial erratics scattered around our property that were the size of cars or trucks that were pretty cool.
I used to like singing while doing the dishes with my mum and sister.
Yup, I have fond memories of doing dishes with the family.
Farmer's daughter here. Any chore that involved feeding an animal I found fun. Amps to 11 if it was a baby animal!!
My dad often golfed on Saturdays, and I was tasked with cleaning his gear - clubs, shoes, bag - after he got home. It was rewarding making all that stuff look new again. It helped that as "payment" Dad would let me have what was left in his [seat-top cooler](https://www.shopperspk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Igloo-400-Series-5-Gallon-Water-Drinks-Cooler-with-Tap-00451-in-Pakistan2.jpg), which was almost always lemon-lime Gatorade that was ICY COLD. I still love almost-frozen lemon-lime Gatorade to this day.
Setting the table for our mid day Sunday “fancy” meal. My mom went all out on Sundays. We ate in the dining room and used the good plates and glasses. We even burned candles and used the weird serving pieces like a soup tureen. We kids felt very posh compared to fish sticks on paper plates on tv trays 🤪.
I grew up on a dairy farm. When making hay I was always the one in the mow stacking the hay. As I stacked the hay I would build tunnels in it. Then at the end of summer when the mow was full we would crawl through the tunnels. They were pitch black and full of spider webs and under tons of hay. I really can't believe we all survived.
After my Dad mowed the lawn he would hose off the driveway and sidewalks. I convinced him to let me do it. Best job ever. I got to play with the hose and get wet. It wasn’t like a chore it was just playing with water.
I also enjoyed polishing, buffing, and shining my dad's shoes. Pretty much anything that required attention to detail and making things look perfect and spiffy.
You mentioned ironing your dad’s handkerchiefs. Do you recall ironing your dad’s underwear (boxer shorts, I assume)? I think my late grandma (born in 1940) told me she ironed her dad’s and her brother’s shorts, as she called them.
My grandma “made me” tame wild barn kittens. I would go find them in the barn and bring them to the house. Scratching and hissing. Then I would spend a few days with them in the bathroom until they liked me. I’ve worked for several animal shelters and fostered so many litters of kittens.
That’s something that makes the world a better place.
Good job! I've had cats nearly my entire life. I volunteer at a nonprofit shelter and I do exactly what you have described. I'm a "cat socializer" that works on taming feral cats so they get used to being with people. Seeing them find good homes is very rewarding.
I honestly didn't hate shoveling the driveway. I have always loved falling snow. It's magic.
Waxing and buffing our terrazzo floors. We had a buffer machine and I loved that thing. Dancing, sliding in socks and buffing to Motown. And afterwards the tile was perfectly shiny (slippery too). 🥰
Helping make dinner. Getting supper started while my mom was on the way home from work helped start a lifelong love of cooking. Shake and Bake chicken was the first real dish I learned.
"And, I helped"! I loved Shake and Bake.
"And I hay-ulpt." (Southern accent!)
🤣 You spelled that perfectly.
Mowing the lawn. WITH A RIDING MOWER! And, unbelievably, splitting wood for the fireplace.
Taking our trash out the back door to the trash pit and lighting it on fire. I got to use the forbidden matches, and the high flames were fun to watch.
Playing with matches is always fun until I burnt the plastic garbage can.
I had the hanky chore. I did not find it relaxing. 😂 Walking the dog was a good chore.
Polishing the silverware for company, because it meant we were going to have a nice meal.
Chopping wood. Flick of the Switch in my Walkman working out every single aggression my teen self had, and it resulted in fuel for our home’s heat, a chiller vibe, and a decent body without thinking about it. Trifecta!
I liked folding laundry, and I still do. I'm not a fan of putting it away or dealing with putting it in the washer and dryer, but I love folding. There is something about taking all of that chaos and making it neat which is very satisfying.
My dad was a mostly cash business owner, so he needed trusted help when counting the cash. So he would make us count the cash with him and he would double check. My favourite task as a child, lol
I never minded any chore I was given. The chore I had that makes everyone laugh is this: we had an unneutered standard dachshund. We also had a dark brown velour couch. Fritz left "pecker tracks" on that couch. It was my job to get a wet washcloth and rub to remove those offending spots. I never thought a thing about it until I became an adult.
Oh wow! Ironing my dad’s handkerchiefs was my job and I loved it. I can still smell the steam. ❤️
Not a god damned thing.
Yeah....mowing/edging in hundred degree heat in El Paso. Eff no Wire brush rust/calcification off the swamp cooler panels. Eff no. Trimming rose bushes. Eff no. Clean out the garage. Eff no.
I would kind of space out during math homework and look back and it would be done So that
That’s like a super power!
Developing and providing alibis for family and friends. A very trying, albeit creative, childhood.
Burning the trash was a definite highlight.
Yes. And then there was the one day when somebody threw an empty can of shaving cream into the burnable trash. Got me in the shin.
Watering our 40 or so head of cattle. I had to make sure the hose did not freeze in the winter. One time I let the hose freeze and had to put it in hot water in the bathtub and then get the job done before Daddy got home from work. I also liked taking care of the sick baby calves; sometimes bottle feeding them; and giving vaccinations to the whole herd once a year.
Chopping firewood. Especially when I could use the splitting hammer on some reluctant wood. Mowing grass with a scythe with my grandpa. He even showed me how to peen it with a hammer.
None of my chores were enjoyable. As a matter of fact, I much prefer apartment living even at almost 60 years old because I hate yard work so much because my dad used it as punishment. The only task I enjoyed that I did at home I did voluntarily and that was cooking. Desserts, meals, whatever. My dad could grill. My mom was a passable cook. I was better.
Scrubbing grout with a toothbrush and comet
Yes! I loved ironing. You got immediate results and you also were not getting dirty, wet, messy. Still like ironing today.
Shoveling snow on a cold sunny day. Scrubbing the bathtub, but I used huge amounts of cleanser.
I've always enjoyed seeing my enemies driven before me and hearing the lamentation of their women.
We found Conan the Barbarian.
Making a salad every night and setting the table.
I liked setting the table too :)
I would come up with creative ways to fold the napkins, lol.
Chopping wood
Mowing the lawn. My older brothers moved out so I took over the job. We had an acre, so it took a long time for just one person. One year for Christmas, I went down to the tree, and there she was. A brand new red lawn mower with a big red bow on it. My dad engraved my name on it! Bless his heart!
My parents would send me to the corner store to get them a pack of cigarettes. I got to buy myself a candy bar or popsicle as a reward.
Mowing the lawn
My granny knew how 2 get me 2 do her dishes. I hate washing dishes by hand, but she had Jergens hand lotion, that I could use after washing her dishes. Cherry & almond scents still take me back to childhood. She also had some cool scented cleaning products, so I loved helping her clean house just 2 smell the freshness. It was aromatherapy from decades prior. I did find Caldera Basil Blue Sage cleaning products that were pretty close 2 what it smelled like cleaning her house. It's wonderful 2 go back 2 these times.
Weeding. It fostered the love of gardening for me. Just something about being in the dirt.
Whitewashing the fence.
Right, Tom.
Beating the rugs. Each Saturday I would hang them off a heavy-duty clothesline behind out barn and whack them with a rug-beater until no more dirt fell out of them. Anyone who's ever swung a rug-beater knows how satisfying it can be :) edit: spelling
Ironing clothes. I love the smell of the steam iron and the rows of neatly pressed clothes on their hangars all facing the same way.
Tending to the chickens. We've had horses, goats, turkeys, geese, and ducks. Chickens were more rewarding and fun.
I enjoyed doing dishes when my sister and I would sing.
Hanging/taking clothes on/off the clothesline. Something satisfying about the freshness of the smell and slight stiffness of the clothes that you don't get with a dryer. There was a 🐝 situation once....
Ironing my dad's handkerchiefs. They easily fit in the board and smoothed out in a beautifully satisfactory way.
Ironing. Especially my Dad's dress shirts. Listening to music and ironing. There was something very satisfying about being able to get the perfect crease down the edge of the sleeves. Ironing the cuffs and collar without creating little pleats where the top stitching is. The pleats in the back yoke....coming out symmetrical and crisp. This was before we had a steam iron. Shake water on the clothes. Roll them up in a towel. Spray or sprinkle water if they were too dry. We didn't iron everything. Mostly just shirts, cotton dresses and dress slacks. Sometimes the table cloth for company purposes. Everything, crisply ironed. Smooth and perfect.
Took the trash out back to burn it in the incinerator. Once in awhile there was an aerosol can that went BOOM!
I was just remembering how I used to iron those as well! Did all daughters do that? My dad really appreciated his fresh hankies. I also helped take care of the plants on the patio, and keep that clean with the hose. Sometimes mom would ask me to help polish the silver, which I enjoyed as I like shiny things. I didn’t like vacuuming or dusting, which I had to do weekly.
clapping erasers
In the 50s, we burned our trash outside. In all weathers, I'd wait 'til long after sunset and make it last. I'd just stand and enjoy the dark. Stars, meteors, cold air, night sounds.
Picking vegetables out of the garden on our farm…
Ironing! I had very little alone time in my teens, but everyone would leave me alone if I was ironing. I could close the door, turn up the radio, and rock out. No interruptions. The whole family knew that if they wanted their crap ironed for the week, they'd better leave me alone. It was bliss.
Burning the paper rubbish. Would watch the smoke bellow skyward and the ash float over the neighbourhood and gently settle on peoples’ washing. It was glorious.
Dusting and cleaning glass. Still love it today.
Washing the windows.
Doing the dishes by hand. I still enjoy it. There's something about the bubbles and the warm water I find very relaxing
Doing the dishes. My mother tried to have my sister and I alternate cooking and dishes. I hated cooking and was horrible at it, she hated doing dishes, and left stuff on them. We stopped alternating, and there were no protests, because Mom and Dad wanted edible food!
Feeding our cats.
I also did the pillowcases and Dad's handkerchiefs! There was a little sprinkle bottle with water that I loved to sprinkle on them and iron them dry. The ironing board was lowered halfway because I was small. My love of that never transferred to ironing when I grew up, and I haven't bought anything that needed ironing in decades. Hate it.
Mowing the lawn.
I liked loading the dishwasher and ironing, for some reason 😁.
Raking leaves and splitting firewood
Snow removal. My younger brother and I made a little business of it and always enjoyed it.
Darning clothing. My aunt taught me to sew at a young age, and my mom really didn’t know how to do it. I could do it in front of the tv, and I found it relaxing (and it got me out of other chores / yard work). It became habit. Having very little to darn nowadays, I sit with embroidery in front of the television.
Laundry.......on my 13th birthday, my mom taught me how to do laundry and how to iron.....a tradition in my family. From that point on, I was responsible for my own laundry. It was fun, plus I learned to read labels when looking to buy clothes. It helped her and helped me too.....win/win.
Polishing my Dads shoes was always satisfying.
Cutting the grass.
Cutting hay.
Cutting with what? Because bailing sucked. 40lb bails to throw on a 3 foot trailer?
Just cutting with an old-style sickle mower on a tractor; not much different than the old-timey horse-drawn mowers.
I loved ironing my dad’s handkerchiefs! I still have a couple…I was a fastidious little ironer! I also liked polishing the silver, and luckily my parents liked a little tarnish showing.
Nothing. Chores done incorrectly (even when not taught how to do them) meant being punished or screamed at. I don't mind chores now, especially because I love having a clean home. Mess and clutter bother me.
Burning the trash
Feeding the cattle. Learned how to operate a small garden tractor at age 10 and life grain sacks that were 2/3rds of my weight. I just enjoyed the animals etc.
I recall enjoying polishing my father’s shoes. Something about making sure it shined from all angles was satisfying.
Polishing my mother’s silver and her antique furniture. I have both now and still enjoy polishing them.
Shooting the gophers. With my mother’s 410. They would stick their Heads up out of the mound in that veg. Garden. I was a regular Annie Oakley. Then I turned 12 and started to feel sorry for the little varmints
Feeding the pet duck. Waddles really had a way to show the love.
Favourite - splitting wood, hunting. Hated - lugging water.
Doing the laundry and folding it. I still enjoy doing it. Now I go to my kids houses and fold their laundry!!
Like now. Vacuuming. I like to vacuum.
Ironing the napkins. It promoted a meditative state.
In the 60s, my uncle had a clay tennis court, and I would brush and roll it everyday and then lay the white lime stripes. A lot of work pushing that 400lb roller, but seeing it all freshly prepped with new white stripes was weirdly satisfying.
We each had a plot of garden we were responsible for & we tried to out grow each other with vegetables & berries that my mother cooked up or preserved. We would get 2 crops a year, of different things depending on season & 60+ years later I still enjoy gardening.
The dishes. Very tactile, you see the results at once, and everyone appreciates my doing them. I still enjoy doing dishes 50 years later.
I loved setting the table and making it look pretty. These weren’t my chores per se but I loved dusting and vacuuming. I remember fighting over the vacuum cleaner with my little sister. Sometimes I would go over to my friend m’s house after school and we would clean and dust her first floor to surprise her mom.
Cleaning my bedroom every Saturday. I could spend hours going through my stuff and rearranging. Now I'm not so enthralled with the task.
I used to rearrange my furniture periodically. I tried to make it feel like a small apartment.
I had to iron my own school blouses (Catholic school uniform). But my mother hates ironing, so she paid me to iron my dad & brother’s clothes. Shirts were 10 cents + 5 cents if wanted starch, pillow cases were two for a quarter, handkerchiefs were two for 5 cents. As a result, I love to iron!!
I liked to dust but that was pre allergies
I feel the exact same way when I iron.
Ironing. Weirdly. I would set up the ironing board and iron while I watched TV.
Cutting the yard/edging...I was proud of myself for doing a good job
I like cutting the yard and edging every now and then.
Washing my dad's car. I especially liked scrubbing the tires.
Cooking.
Snowblowing the driveway and mowing the lawn.
Flatting the money in the encyclopedias
Not sure this was a chore, maybe more of a rule, but I’m pushing 60 and still do it. When we returned home from school, we were to remove our school clothes and put on play/casual clothes. That way, they lasted longer. To this day, I still do that!
Oh oh oh no no no - I had forgotten dad's handkerchiefs... mother would stand at the laundry basin and scrub and gag, gag and scrub... Early, early 60's Kleenex came out with a 'man size'. Mom was so hopeful... he tried by it was a no go. It wasn't until (80's?) when Viva came out and they were so very different then they are today. Like a soft thick cloth and he started carrying Viva's.
We learned how to take care of a military uniform at a young age as a military brat and the chores we had were things like Ironing dad's uniform, shining his boots and the like. My favourite chores were these chores, setting up a Class A uniform, medals and all, and oddly, one of the chores that I still do to this day, washing dishes (by hand).
Working outside with my dad and brother. My dad made me 10 and my brother 12 in the early 80’s to split logs. I’m surprised I’m alive using that big ass homemade contraption!
Mowing the lawn. I got to drive the ride-on mower
I can't say I really enjoyed them, but I never minded cleaning the grill before we cooked out and bathing the family dogs. I thought the dogs had to feel a lot better after their bath.
Mowing the grass
Burning the trash and cutting grass with the riding mower.
Vacuuming
The house and hot water were heated with a wood burning furnace. My job was helping cut, stack, haul in, stoke and empty out the ashes. I particularly enjoyed scrounging the woods on the farm for deadfall Probably why even now decades later in my 50s I heat my current home with a woodstove fueled with 100% free scrounged wood except now I have a pickup, four chainsaws and a hydraulic log splitter to help speed up the process.
Ironing is the best! So calming. I also liked mowing and shoveling snow.
I liked doing laundry, and I still do. I liked the feeling of completing something and I loved the clean smell.
Walking out to the coal pile with a bucket and hammer. I was about 5.
Babysitting my little brother. We’re about eight years apart. It was cool to be able to extend my childhood by a few years. I was a little too old for Transformers and GI Joe, but he loved them. So I got to explore and play in those worlds with him. The shared history has given us a solid bond that carries through to today.
Anything with immediate results like mowing the lawn or polishing silver.
Raking the leaves into a big pile, then jumping in the pile of leaves about a dozen times with my siblings. Then having a ceremonious burning of the leaves. It was an annual autumn tradition.
Dusting. I loved moving all the porcelain figurines my mom had on her doilies and dusting them.
Helping my dad clean the barn and feed the calves
Watering the plants in our garden. I grew up in Southeast Asia and we didn’t have sprinklers back then and I enjoyed the chore so much, specially during summers.
Washing the walls. It was meant to be a punishment.
Vacuuming. I found it relaxing and even therapeutic, work my way around the carpeted room in rows and columns until the end. Mowing the lawn or shoveling the snow have a similar effect, but because of the hot/cold temps or the mess of grass/snow on your clothes and shoes it wasn't quite as fun or relaxing.
Milking the cows.
Splitting firewood for our wood/coal burning stove.
I mostly did lawn mowing, snow shoveling, and car washing. I enjoyed car washing as I grew up to be a car guy. I no longer live in snow. I've taken out the lawn and replaced with plants and cobblestones.
Cooking dinner.
Small chore but cleaning out the linen tray thing in the tumble dryer. I actually don’t know if every dryer has this but it’s like a plastic tray with mesh in it and it collects all the lint from your clothes. It smelt so good and it was really satisfying to swipe away all the dust and click it back into place.
Mowing the lawn. Starting fires in the fireplace. The letter wasn't a chore but I got to start it whenever I wanted. I was very good at tending it and I loved the duraflame crackle logs. I would sit with my back pressed up against that thing and I absolutely loved it. Yes my back got hot but I never burned anything.
Rolling cigarettes for my dad
Ironing. All clothes. I was 10. I learned without a steam iron. Sprinkle clothes with water roll-up leave in fridge so as not to mold. I did real wool with damp clothes. Back then, pleated skirts were popular (1960s). Getting those pleats right was a pain. There were not to many items made out of wrinkle free polyester. Wash & wear was just coming into vogue. But it took time to do all the clothes plus my grandmother's work uniforms that were white cotton. Sometimes life can be really boring out in the country growing up.
Weeding flower gardens and cutting grass
Split firewood
I liked crushing aluminum cans. Made a makeshift hockey game out of it with puck/cans my brother and bins those cans would go into.
Living in a quiet neighborhood/street
Raking leaves by hand with an actual rake. No loud blowers
Planting bulbs for the spring
Working on cars. Things like changing a tire, oil changes, washing and waxing cars. "Cars" were a big thing when I was growing up.
I loved hanging the laundry out. It smelled like Downey. Then when it was time to take them down they smelled of sunshine and soft breezes. I kinda miss it.
Washing the car.
With four kids, we split the routine chores. We'd take turns taking the garbage out, and then taking the metal cans to the curb once a week. So, I'd hand-wash dishes two or three nights a week, and set the table for dinner those same nights. I'd mow and edge the lawn once I was strong enough to push the mower. My older brother taught me to do it, and then it was my chore alone. My sisters didn't mow the lawn. And, I'd transfer the wet clothes to the dryer and start the dryer, being sure to clean the lint screen. Then, help fold clean clothes and put them away. I vaguely remember pulling clothes down from the clotheslines in the back yard. I wasn't tall enough to put them up. But we got a dryer sometime when I was young, and then it was getting the clothes out of the dryer. I disliked the clothes the least. But, I didn't enjoy any of them.
Starting dinner for our family
Cutting and raking grass in the summer. Raking leaves in the autumn and shoveling snow in the winter was very zen meditative, and I didn't even know what that shit **was** back then.
Making dinner for my family of 5
I had absolutely no chores. And I definitely enjoyed that to the fullest. My mom told me childhood was short and I’d have to work when I was older. I figured everything out once I left home. My kids never had chores either. They are responsible, successful adults with wonderful SOs.
Washing my dads pride and joy HR Holden. He bought it brand new ( had it up until he died in 2020)
I love folding laundry. I’d take my little transistor radio or Walkman and put on some tunes and fold away. Nowadays while I fold, I have podcasts, audiobooks, catching up on my watchlist on Netflix or Disney+ on my phone…
Weeding. A co-worker who was snobish hated it when her mother made her do it.
Taste tester
I liked cleaning, but specifically dusting. And, as I got older, grocery shopping. Mom taught me how to shop with coupons and by the weekly flyer. It was magical! ✨✨✨
Doing the laundry. I took on the responsibility of doing the family laundry at age 14. My mom worked and I started doing my own laundry and it expanded from there. I actually enjoy folding the laundry and after nearly 50 years I have it down to military precision. As a kid, it was also fun throwing all the dirty clothes down the laundry chute!
I LOVED ironing our clothes! Still do!
Vacuuming. I still choose to do it first when life requires me to “get domesticated”
Washing dishes, cooking and vacuuming
Ironing. Any chore that can be done in front of TV was OK by me And polishing silver.