This is my son pictured above. He just started 3rd grade.

And this is a shot of him yesterday mowing the lawn — for the very first time.

I didn’t ask him to mow, he asked me.

In fact, it started a couple of weeks ago with him asking if he could help me mow. My reply was, “sure buddy, you can help by going around the yard and picking up sticks — that would be a huge help!”

He was a bit discouraged by my reply — discouraged but not deterred.

He reluctantly picked up the sticks and came back to express how much he’d like to use the mower. Truthfully, I didn’t give it much thought given the ominous storm clouds almost over-head. I told him not this weekend — but maybe next time.

He assumed that “next time” was going to be the very next weekend — but with a couple of days full of responsibilities on campus, I just wasn’t able to get to the yard.

He asked about it nonetheless.

In fact, I was surprised when he approached me on Saturday afternoon — while I was home briefly — and asked if it was time to mow. When I told him I just wasn’t going to have time to do it that weekend, he was quick to offer to do it anyways — on his own. I thanked him for his willingness, but said that I couldn’t let him do it without me. Again, he was bummed.

Well, as this past weekend got closer, he began to inquire as to whether or not mowing would be on the weekend’s agenda. When I told him, “definitely!” he again asked if he could help. I knew he wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer much longer — so I decided to give him a shot.

While I think this is one of those days that most every dad dreams of — being able to confidently pass off some of the necessary yard work to a capable son or daughter — I didn’t think it would come so soon. In my mind I was thinking it would be somewhere around the 5th or 6th grade. I can’t remember exactly when I first mowed the lawn — but I struggled to believe it was much earlier in life than the 5th or 6th grade.

And with 2 weeks of growth I thought this was a horrible week to give my son his first shot at the push-mower.

But he was all too excited and determined to let something like ankle-deep grass squash his experience.

So I conceded to his request — and he did a fantastic job.

Why share this with you? Because some of you need to hear it.

You need to be reminded to not let an initial “no” be a definitive and/or indefinite “no.”

And some of you need to recognize you have not because you ask not.

Be willing to ask for what you want. You cannot force anyone to say yes — or to work on your time-table. But you need to be willing to make your requests known to others.

Don’t be afraid to ask.