Tonight the man around here helped set the table and cheerfully cleared the table, too. He had plans for this family. We were to all help clear away a fallen tree from Monday's storm. The man around here reminded us to put on work clothes and bring along work gloves, if we have them. He gathered up the needed supplies - a hatchet, folding camp saw and goggles. The man around here drove the littles, on the four-wheeler, to the work site. He promptly called out commands, who would drag brush off to the woods, who would chop firewood with the hatchet, who would cut 1 1/2 inch branches using the camp saw and who would just stay out of the way. The man around here worked us hard, never forgetting to remind us of safety first. If you use the hatchet, you must wear goggles. If the camp saw blade wiggles, just give the screw a tightening. Keep the little ones back so I don't hit them in the face with the hatchet. The temperature was dropping, we were in T-shirts. The mosquitoes and gnats were in our face and on our arms. Some of us were ready to go home, just then the man around here hollered out a heart felt Thank you to all of us and said if we stick it out, and mom agrees, maybe we could all have an Eskimo Pie when done. We finished, drove the four-wheeler back with a pile of wood and kindling, stacked it in the wood shed and indulged in a well-deserved treat.
Did I mention the man around here is only eight years old. He's learned from a real man, his dad, my husband.
