helpful.......sometimes

What is it about kids? You work hard to teach them to do the right things. Heck, you give up stuff to teach them right and not be a hypocrite! And sometimes it works....and sometimes it doesn't. There are days when I cannot imagine how I could have accomplished a task or finished some batch of work without my oldest boy's help. Then there are some days when the whining and moaning over doing a 20 minute job are enough to make me do it myself. Which, by the way, I have been informed is the wrong way to handle it and I should hand the boy off to the other parental unit to handle it. I had a 365 pound 55 gallon drum filled with flammable liquid to get out of the truck the other day. With my boy's help, we got a ramp into place, got out the crane, rigged it up and removed the barrel from the truck. Without his help, I don't think I could have done it...the job required four hands at times. Then, the other day I ask for the lawn to be mowed. And so the battle begins...Dad, I can't start the mower...Dad, I think it's out of gas...Dad, do I have to move the lights...Dad, it is going slow...Dad, do I have to empty the bag myself...Dad--GAH! That is when I usually do it myself...or in my new and improved world tag my bride and have her deal with him. What I don't understand is sometimes mowing the lawn is the nothing chore it is and 20 minutes after being asked, it is done and we're all happy. Heck, sometimes he actually blows the clippings off the driveway without being asked! So what is the secret to making more of those sometimes?