We are in the middle of replacing our back decking material (the foundation is fine).

The boys have been helping out...and I have to admit that they have been doing pretty good. Helping to prep the new ceder boards, remove the old decking, sanding, brushing on sealer -- all sorts of stuff.

After a long tiring day, it sure is nice to say, "Hey Boys, how about moving that pile of wood over to there?" They are not fully trained yet -- none of them thought about bringing poor old dad a bottle of beer while I was sitting in the sun removing the old deck screws!

But the old decking is stripped off now and the area cleaned up. Tomorrow we'll get most of the new decking on and weather-sealed. If the boys keep helping as well as they have been, then perhaps I should treat them to a movie (movie theater) on Monday. Its been a long while since we have done that as a family.

Vaughn and the ABC Boys
Alex, Bryce, & Calder
3-31-97 @ 28.5 weeks
http://s515.photobucket.com/albums/t356/vaughn3abc/

It's really great to hear of them helping out, Vaughn.

We have a neighbor with twin boys just about the age of your triplets (11 and a half years old), but everytime there is any type of work to do around their home, whether it's the lawn, cleaning, whatever.... it's always the mom doing it.

I'm hopeful that our boys (and our daughter) will grow up understanding and appreciating a sense of responsibility and doing their part in and around the home. Naturally, nothing difficult or too serious, but enough to give them a sense of accomplishment and purpose besides eating and playing video games.

Your boys obviously have a great role-model to follow, as they like helping out and just hanging around ol' dad.

Hope they got the movie treat.

Rick

BBG - 2 years and counting