Child Labor

Last winter, the girls were given little plastic snow shovels:

At that time, the shovels just kept them occupied while I shoveled the driveway and sidewalk. (By the way, Canadians are militant about clearing the sidewalk quickly and throughly, with both fines from the city and social scorn from neighbours for those who fail to shovel.) In fact, the shovels were sort of counterproductive. For the most part, the girls used the shovels to move snow FROM the yard TO the sidewalk or UN-shoveled the piles that I had already worked hard to clear.

This year - JACKPOT! - they are a snow shoveling force to be reckoned with:

They don't shovel in straight lines. Rather, the three of them spin around in circles, crossing each other's paths over and over again. If you've ever seen a Roomba in action, it is quite similar.

Eventually, all those shoveled circles overlap and overlap, until they cover the entire surface of the driveway. The end result is surprisingly good:

After clearing the driveway, all three girls eagerly moved on to the front walk and the doorstep.

The reward? Oh Boy! A giant pile of snow! My favorite!