"My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass"; "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys""
About this Quote
The subtext is a defense of roughness - not cruelty, not neglect, but the kind of sanctioned mess that lets children test their bodies and boundaries. “Tearing up the grass” is really a worry about disorder, about the visible proof that life is happening in ways you can’t fully control. The father’s reply reframes parenting as cultivation, not maintenance. It’s not “let them do anything,” it’s “let them become something,” even if that means scars on the yard and mud on the knees.
Coming from Killebrew, the line reads like an origin story without the cheesy triumph. A Hall of Fame slugger isn’t just reminiscing; he’s staking a claim about how toughness is formed: through play, through space, through adults who choose experience over tidiness. There’s also a quiet gender script in “raising boys,” a mid-century American assumption that boys should be physical, loud, and allowed to sprawl. Today, the quote lands as both sweet and slightly instructive: a reminder that childhood is supposed to leave marks, and a question about what - and who - we’re really preserving when we demand everything look perfect.
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Killebrew, Harmon. (2026, January 15). My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass"; "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys". FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-father-used-to-play-with-my-brother-and-me-in-154512/
Chicago Style
Killebrew, Harmon. "My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass"; "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys"." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-father-used-to-play-with-my-brother-and-me-in-154512/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass"; "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys"." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-father-used-to-play-with-my-brother-and-me-in-154512/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
