My Neighbor Requested My 12-Year-Old Son to Mow Her Lawn, Then Declined to Pay – She Wasn’t Prepared for My Retaliation

Then one day, Ethan came home, sweat dripping from his forehead. His shirt was soaked, and he looked like he’d been running for hours.

“Ethan, what happened?” I asked, walking over to him as he plopped down on the couch.

“Mrs. Johnson asked me to mow her lawn,” he panted. “She said she’d pay me twenty bucks.”

I glanced out the window at Mrs. Johnson’s yard. It was huge, easily the biggest in the neighborhood. Ethan had mowed the entire thing. It looked perfect, lines neat and clean.

“Two days,” Ethan said, wiping his face with his shirt. “It took me two whole days. But she said she’d pay me when I was done.”

I smiled at him, proud. Ethan was a good kid, always looking to help out. He’d been saving up for weeks to buy a food processor for his grandma’s birthday. The twenty dollars would help him get a little closer.

“Did she pay you yet?” I asked, still looking out the window.

“No, but I’m sure she will,” Ethan said, his voice hopeful.

I nodded. Mrs. Johnson might be distant, but stiffing a kid out of twenty bucks? Even she wouldn’t do that. Or so I thought.

A few days passed, and I noticed Ethan was quieter than usual. He wasn’t his usual cheerful self, and it worried me.

“What’s wrong, honey?” I asked one evening as he sat by the window, staring at Mrs. Johnson’s house.

“She hasn’t paid me yet,” he said softly.

I frowned. “Well, have you asked her?”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, I went over yesterday, but she told me she was busy and to come back later. So I went again today, and she told me… she told me to get lost.”

“What?” I gasped, shocked. “What do you mean ‘get lost’?”

Ethan looked down at his hands, his voice shaking just a little. “She said I should be grateful for the lesson I learned from mowing her lawn. That learning to work hard was the real payment. She said I didn’t need the money.”

My heart dropped, and my anger rose. This woman had tricked my son into doing two days of hard work and then refused to pay him. How dare she?

I clenched my fists, trying to stay calm for his sake, but inside I was boiling. “Don’t worry about it, honey. I’ll take care of it.”

Ethan gave me a small, trusting smile. But inside, I was already planning what I’d do next. Mrs. Johnson might think she was teaching my son a lesson, but she was about to learn one herself.

I sat on the porch the next morning, watching Mrs. Johnson pull out of her driveway, as polished as ever. The decision had been brewing inside me for days, and now, I felt no hesitation.

My son deserved justice, and if Mrs. Johnson wasn’t going to do the right thing, then I’d make sure she learned a lesson of her own. I got to making calls and leaving voice messages.

Around an hour later, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Mark, my old friend from high school, who now ran a small landscaping business. I explained the situation in a quick, hushed tone.

“So, you want me to… trim her hedges into weird shapes?” he chuckled on the other end of the line.

Mrs. Johnson took immense pride in her yard, especially her hedges. Every Saturday morning, without fail, she’d be out there, pruning the bushes with meticulous care.

She had them shaped into perfect, symmetrical forms that gave her house a neat, upscale appearance. To her, those hedges weren’t just plants—they were a statement.

“Exactly. Nothing destructive. Just enough to give them a funny look. She’s proud of that yard, and I want her to notice.”

Mark was quiet for a moment, then laughed again. “You’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll swing by later today.”

Step one of the plan was set. Now, for step two. I grabbed my laptop, found a local mulch delivery service, and called them up, doing my best to mimic Mrs. Johnson’s crisp, no-nonsense tone.

“Hi, this is Katherine Johnson. I need three large truckloads of mulch delivered to my address. Yes, the whole driveway. Thank you.”

I hung up, feeling a strange thrill. My heart pounded in my chest. Was I really doing this?

Yes. Yes, I was.

Then, I left a few messages for my neighbors. While asking for small favors, I made sure to casually mention what Mrs. Johnson had done to Ethan.

Later that afternoon, three giant trucks rolled up and began unloading piles of mulch onto Mrs. Johnson’s driveway. I watched from my porch as the workers carefully emptied their loads, blocking her entire driveway with massive mounds of dark brown mulch. There was no way she was getting her car in tonight.

By then, the neighborhood had started to buzz. I saw a few of the neighbors peeking through their windows, whispering to each other. Word had gotten around about what Mrs. Johnson had done to Ethan, and now, they were seeing my revenge unfold right in front of them.

I could feel the tension building. Everyone was waiting for Mrs. Johnson to come home. So was I.

At around 6:30 p.m., her shiny black car turned the corner and pulled onto our street. As soon as she saw the mulch, her car screeched to a halt. She sat there for a moment, probably in shock. Then she slowly rolled forward, coming to a stop in front of the pile blocking her driveway.

I leaned back in my chair, sipping my tea, and waited.

Mrs. Johnson got out of the car, her face a mix of confusion and anger. She marched over to the hedges first, staring at the strange shapes they’d been trimmed into. She ran her hands through her perfectly styled hair and pulled out her phone, probably to call someone to fix it.

A few of the neighbors had gathered across the street, pretending to chat, but really watching her reaction. They exchanged quiet laughs and glances. Mrs. Johnson looked around, realizing she was being watched, and her eyes landed on me.

She stormed across the street, her heels clicking loudly on the pavement.

“Did you do this?” she snapped, her voice tight with rage.

I smiled, taking another sip of my tea. “Me? I don’t know anything about landscaping or mulch deliveries.”

Her face turned bright red. “This is unacceptable! You think this is funny?”

I set down my cup and stood up, meeting her gaze. “Not as funny as stiffing a 12-year-old out of twenty dollars.”

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Maybe it’s just the universe teaching you a lesson,” I said, my tone sharp. “Hard work is its own reward, right?”

Mrs. Johnson clenched her jaw, her eyes darting from me to the piles of mulch and then back to the small crowd of neighbors now openly watching. She was trapped. She couldn’t argue with me without looking worse in front of the whole street.

“Fine,” she spat, turning on her heel and stomping into her house. A minute later, she reappeared with a crumpled twenty-dollar bill in her hand.

She shoved it at me, but I didn’t take it. “Give it to Ethan,” I said, stepping aside.

She shot me one last glare, then walked over to where Ethan stood at the edge of the yard. “Here,” she muttered, shoving the bill at him.

Ethan took the money, eyes wide with surprise. “Uh, thanks.”

Mrs. Johnson didn’t say another word as she hurried back to her car. She fumbled with her phone, probably trying to call someone to remove the mulch blocking her driveway. But I wasn’t worried about that. My job was done.

Ethan smiled so wide, I thought his face might split in two.

“Thanks, Mom,” he said, beaming.

“Don’t thank me,” I said, ruffling his hair. “You earned it.”

Mrs. Johnson never asked Ethan for help again. And every time she passed the neighbors, I could see the embarrassment in her eyes. Her hedges grew back, and the mulch eventually disappeared, but the story of how she learned a lesson about honesty and hard work stayed with the neighborhood.

Sometimes, the people who seem the most put-together are the ones who need a good reminder that you don’t mess with a mother protecting her son.

Sarah Jessica Parker forced to defend herself, public attacks naturally aging beauty and casual style

Carrie Bradshaw once said, “I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes.” But Sarah Jessica parker, the woman behind the sassy fashionista in the hit TV show Sex and the City, isn’t Jimmy Choo-obsessed, nor does she have a wardrobe filled with playful tutus and strappy slip dresses.Still, the confident 58-year-old actor is fielding hateful comments from the online population who can’t understand why her real-life persona is contrary to the modish character she plays.

Parker, who’s proudly aging naturally, gracefully and beautifully, answers back saying it’s, “just not a reality,” and “there’s no time to let vanity enter.” Keep reading to learn what the lovely Sarah Jessica Parker has to say about aging!
In her role as the beloved Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker served some iconic, oftentimes controversial, looks.

While her character was considered a trendsetter by women across the globe, Parker in real life, has never been an urban chic fashionista.
“It’s not the way I perceive myself, I’m so low on my priority list,” said Parker, who raised three children while she was at the height of her career. “I love beautiful clothes and am privileged enough to have access to a lot them…but they also are returned the next day. They are not mine.”

Keep reading to learn more…


In real life, the star admits that she prefers a practical style, which isn’t always popular with the demanding public.
Unsexiest woman alive
In fact, in 2008, she was named in a Maxim poll as the “Unsexiest Woman Alive.”
Shortly after she earned the unflattering title, Parker spoke with Grazia (through Daily Mail) and said, “Do I have big fake boobs, Botox and big lips? No. Do I fit some ideals and standards of some men writing in a men’s magazine? Maybe not.” The star of And Just Like That continues, “Am I really the unsexiest woman in the world? Wow! It’s kind of shocking when men…It’s so brutal in a way…”
Years later, the Family Stone star appeared at the Met Gala wearing a golden Dolce & Gabbana gown that she paired with an ornate nativity headpiece.


Though she was serving an incredibly unique and smashing look, the public only commented on her aging.
“Aye real quick, how old is Sarah Jessica Parker because [her] skin look like tree bark and I’m confused,” said one. A second writes, “Is that Sarah Jessica Parker? Oh gosh she looks so old and worn out.”
Then, in 2021, the Hocus Pocus star was lunching with Bravo star Andy Cohen. Parker was makeup free, her silvery hair tied back in a braided ponytail.
It didn’t take long for the online population to start spitting hate over her appearance. But, Cohen, who also has a head of grey hair, defended his friend.
“We were at lunch and there was a paparazzi, and she’s sitting next to me, white hair,” said Cohen, 55, of his own white hair. Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show, he continued, “All the articles were ‘Sarah Jessica Parker, she’s going gray’ and ‘She looks old,’ and it was insanity.
Here she is sitting next to me, who’s gray, and people just missed the mark totally. It was so misogynistic.”
Following that, Parker spoke with Vogue and had a lot to say about unforgiving people and their unrealistic standards of beauty.
“There’s so much misogynist chatter… I’m sitting with Andy Cohen, and he has a full head of gray hair, and he’s exquisite. Why is it okay for him?” Parker continues, “‘She has too many wrinkles, she doesn’t have enough wrinkles.’ It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly okay with where we are, as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better.


She adds, “I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?”
Influential woman
The title of “unsexist woman alive” was upstaged in 2022 when the Golden Globe winning actor was named by Time as one of its “100 most influential people in the world.”
Though she may not dress the part of Carrie, who’s the star of the TV series, two films and the reboot And Just Like That, Parker does own her own designer brand, SJP, which – not surprisingly – started as shoes.
The star of Honeymoon in Vegas is also a TV producer, the co-founder of the spirit “The Perfect Cosmo by SJP” (Carrie’s favorite drink), is involved with publishing, fragrances and has a wine label – to name a few.


And just like that
Also unlike Carrie and her hapless search for romance, the star of Footloose found love in the early 1990s with Matthew Broderick, the star of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
The adorable couple – who starred on Broadway together – married on May 19, 1997, and have been together ever since.
When Broderick was asked to reveal his secret for a successful marriage, he answered: “I don’t know the secret at all, but I, you know, I’m very grateful and I love her. It’s amazing. I mean, I can’t believe that it’s been that long. It doesn’t feel like it.”
The couple share three kids, son James Wilkie (born 2002), along with twins Tabitha Hodge and Marion Loretta Elwell, who joined the family in 2009, via surrogate.
The woman leads a busy life and should be applauded for her accomplishments, not criticized.


Speaking natural in real life, the actor said, “It’s not how I think of myself, and I think it’s probably the healthier approach.”
She continues, “It’s just not a reality – not when you have three kids, and you go to the market, and there are hungry people at home. You have a limited time to do it. There’s just no time to let vanity enter into that.”

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