The Octopus' Garden

An end of the day play-date at someone else's place really came in handy. The kids and I have been working hard all day, mostly in the garden. I mowed the lawn and they raked the grass clippings. I weeded the garden, and they swept the porch. I weeded the garden some more and they watered it, after I was finished. They also cleaned their rooms, stacked the dishes into the dishwasher, picked up their playroom, and practiced their piano. With an amazing amount of energy still to be unleashed, I left them to play with the octopus so I could dash home and attend to a few more chores before my sweetheart arrives back home tonight. The days seem to go slower when he's not in town. And on this day, we were entirely more productive than usual.

My kids had incentive to be such good helpers: Happy Rocks. For each good deed or chore they earn a rock and happily collect them in their own jar. When they get ten rocks they pick a prize from the mysterious prize box. Today they really wanted a prize, which turned out to be a Pokemon Magazine for Lewis and a Sparkle magazine for Alyssa. All is bliss, for the time being.