Time for a new lawnmower

The boys start mowing the lawn right around 6 years old. I do have Thad out pushing the mower now and he is 5 but he is still right there next to me. Jonas and Keat are becoming old pros.  They are used to pushing our Honda around. This is a beast of a mower. The drive feature failed long ago. One of the wheels is quite jacked making it just a bit harder to push. The clutch bar is held together by duct tape. It's at least 20 years old but the engine still runs like a champ...until recently.  

Last Saturday Jonas came in the house with a look of shock on his face. He said, "Dad, I think there's something wrong with the lawnmower. I ran over something."  I went out to see what the damage was. He ran over the edge of the basketball standard!  The massive bolts and steel frame took a big hit!  I told him that our trusty old mower is likely dead. When I start it the mower shakes so violently it acted like it is about to explode. I bought a new blade thinking that may solve the problem. Nope.  The crank was way bent. Even aftet I pounded it with a hammer trying to get it all true again, it was no use. So I bought a new Honda mower today and took our old friend to the scrap yard. 

I could probably save a lot of money by just hiring someone to mow the lawn. At least we wouldn't wreck another mower. But then the boys wouldn't learn much about working hard, saving and investing money or even stepping up and shouldering some of the consequences when you run over a basketball standard. 

Update-- it's a week later now. The boys are back in the saddle mowing away. This time with much better equipment. It was pay day so Jonas and I talked tonight about the mower. I told him that I had to drop about 480 on a new mower and asked if he felt like it would be a good plan to have him shoulder some of the burden. I asked if it was fair if I cover about 440 and he cover the rest. He was hesitant but understood and agreed to step up and cover that part of the expense. It wasn't easy for sure but his work for the last two weeks covered a good part of it. Then he cracked out his wallet tonight and paid off the last $11 dollars.  He actually ran up excited to tell his mom that he paid off his debt!  It will make for a good story for his kids one day. But more than that, it taught us something about Jonas and his personality. He thrives in an environment where he is shown respect. He responds well to us when he feels like we respect his views and see him as a mature kid capable of more. When I told him we need to talk man to man he smiled. Hope we can replicate that.