AUGUST 18TH: Another Day of Fort "Building"

Brise, Vinze, Daxx and Kole have been cleaning out "The Shed."

"The Shed" was used as a Fort/Bike Shop when Kazz was a pre-teen. It was highly prized by our neighborhood kids and used well, back in the day.

About 2 years ago The Shed had lost its appeal for Kazz. He began driver's training, Brise began video gaming and The Shed morphed back down to the storage bin/trash receptacle.





I was sad to see it go but knew that one day it may revisit it's former glory. Much to my excitement, Vinze recently caught the "bike shop" bug. I told him that if he and his brothers cleaned out The Shed, they could use it as a Fort just like Kazz used to when he was little.

They began working on it yesterday...All Four of our Fort Loving boys took aim and charged The Shed. It didn't take long for them to pull all that had been stored in the shed right out into the middle of the yard.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I went to the window to check on their progress. Much to my chagrin, not only had our yard miraculously turned into a dump, I was immediately aware that the trash that had "been taken to the curb every week" had only "partly" been taken to the curb. The bags they couldn't reach...or didn't want to reach...were nice and ripe from months of stewing.

As I walked outside to get a better view, flies and stench reached my nostrils. I immediately pulled rank, went into Foreman mode, grabbed the nearest box of over sized garbage bags and doled out job assignments.

You There! Grab 3 gross bags and place them in this larger bag...You over there! Place all wooden objects, broken containers and forgotten toys into groups...

Away we went...piling junk, bags of garbage and refuse into mounds and mounds of over sized bags. The result was...well...slightly overwhelming..

I will no longer ASSUME that my precious children are actually doing the job they have been assigned. I have learned that it is quite important to GO CHECK! once in a while. They had done well for the most part, but the bags that were "forgotten" really were quite disgusting. The items that had been "stored" in the shed were no longer usable. A bunk bed, kitchen table, Pool Equipment and Yard games were no longer recognizable, let alone "keepers."

They began cleaning yesterday. WE finished today.

Kazz, PJ (Kazz's friend) and I took a large load of wood and metal objects to the recycling center today while the boys finished spraying down the walls and floor of the shed.


Tomorrow, we disinfect, spray again and begin molding the thing back into its former glory...A Fort/Bike Shop now built for 4 quickly growing boys full of exciting ideas.