Family Fun (sort of)-Spring Clean Up

Trying to make spring clean up fun for the WHOLE family.
Spring is in the air all over the country. In the suburbs of Chicago the piles of snow finally melted and I asked my four kids to give me one hour of their time. O.K. I begged my kids for the hour, with the usual mom lecture that if we all work together it will be so much easier. I handed out tasks. (Please feel free to use my short list) I have learned that shorter offers more hope for success.

1. Clean up all dog poop that has been hidden UNDER all that snow.
2. Clean up all garbage in the yard.
3. Clean up all the sticks.
4. Sweep the decks.

Well, I of course got job number one. My son, home from spring break, took this opportunity to play Frisbee with his friends. He felt he was above any family obligations because he works "so hard" in college. My three girls did stick with me for about an hour and the yard looked much better. Mother Nature clearly did not appreciate our leap into spring, when she dumped another 5 inches of snow on us the next day. We went from 60 degrees and sunshine to a snow storm. Only in Chicago!

(By the way, my son did not get off the hook, he had to make up the hour later with much complaining.)