Well, I've discovered one way that works around here...
I divided our (large) yard into non-intimidating sections, assigned one section for the day, and offered to burn what got raked up if the whole section got finished.
Then I reminded everyone that we have marshmallows.
Then, (and I think this part is important and shouldn't be skipped if you expect this to work) I grabbed a rake and got to work.
We aren't raking leaves (yet), but we have several huge (read: diameter of 4 feet and larger) oak trees and our yard is short on grass and long on acorn caps and twigs. It makes mowing quick in the summer, but barefooting in our yard can be daunting for those whose feet aren't as leathersoled as my children's.
And it's kind of ugly.
So we're starting on tidying it up a bit, although I'm not sure how long the whole project will take, or if we'll even finish it, since my "Priorities" list is ever-shifting, and a few new things got tossed at me this week; such as realizing, after some serindipitous "help" from a younger child to an older one on the older one's schoolwork, and a bit of subsequent quizzing from Mama, that we have a new scholar in our school! I now have (roughly, as we don't really "do" grade levels), 2 kindergartners, 1 first grader that really wants to move up a grade, and 1 second grader. So I'm doing lots of rearranging of schedules and planners, as well as scrounging school supplies and books etc. :0)
Well, that was a rabbit trail I wasn't planning to take! (0;
To reward you for following it with me, here are a few shots of the workers enjoying their pay.
I divided our (large) yard into non-intimidating sections, assigned one section for the day, and offered to burn what got raked up if the whole section got finished.
Then I reminded everyone that we have marshmallows.
Then, (and I think this part is important and shouldn't be skipped if you expect this to work) I grabbed a rake and got to work.
We aren't raking leaves (yet), but we have several huge (read: diameter of 4 feet and larger) oak trees and our yard is short on grass and long on acorn caps and twigs. It makes mowing quick in the summer, but barefooting in our yard can be daunting for those whose feet aren't as leathersoled as my children's.
And it's kind of ugly.
So we're starting on tidying it up a bit, although I'm not sure how long the whole project will take, or if we'll even finish it, since my "Priorities" list is ever-shifting, and a few new things got tossed at me this week; such as realizing, after some serindipitous "help" from a younger child to an older one on the older one's schoolwork, and a bit of subsequent quizzing from Mama, that we have a new scholar in our school! I now have (roughly, as we don't really "do" grade levels), 2 kindergartners, 1 first grader that really wants to move up a grade, and 1 second grader. So I'm doing lots of rearranging of schedules and planners, as well as scrounging school supplies and books etc. :0)
Well, that was a rabbit trail I wasn't planning to take! (0;
To reward you for following it with me, here are a few shots of the workers enjoying their pay.
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