(Really, this is Alan posting, but Tessa
got me started with the pictures so her name is on the post.)

I know you all know, and you hear it
all the time, but this time it is literal. I started by asking
Lex to find big rocks and put them in the wheel burrow. This
was a first step in leveling out the ground where the ex-pool
pit off our deck. He was great. He probably loaded 100lb of
rocks before I distracted him by taking a shovel to a small
dirt pile. Some of the rocks must have weighted almost as much
as him. When he got to the first one too heavy to lift into the
borrow, I suggested he step up on the deck. From then on he did
and dropped them in from waist height.

When he was done “rocking” the pit, he came over to the
big dirt pile I had started working on. I was tossing shovels
full of dirt into the pit and he started doing the same with
his little plastic shovel. Since he dropped most of his dirt in
the 10 steps it took him to get to the destination, I thought
of his little wheel borrow and got that for him. Grabbed the
big one for me too since it just looked easier, and to keep
from tossing dirt in his direction while he was dumping.

After a few iterations and some light
instructions from me, he was on rails. He put a few shovels
full of dirt in his borrow (about what you see below), says,
“All full,” in his tiny high-pitched voice he uses when he
reminds himself of something, and carts it off.
He dumps it out and with the same voice says,
“back for another load!”
He didn’t even miss a beat while I stopped to
take pictures!

Between the rocks and
moving the dirt pile, he did real work for at least an hour
straight. We would have kept going if it was not for dinner
being ready. I’m sure if we would have started earlier, he
would have stayed with me until it was done.

At one point, we were both grunting a bit and I said,
“this is hard work.”

“Yeah, it is hard work. This
is hard work,” he said in a deeper, gravelly voice.

“Hard work is good,” I added.

To which he quickly responded, “Easy work is
good.”

When he’s right, he is right. Of
course, I went on to explain how hard work can be good too. How
it feels good when you can look back on it and see the job
done. Sense of accomplishment, blah blah. He seemed to be
listening well enough while we kept working, but did not seem
to be buying it entirely. I added how nice it was to have him
working with me, because hard work is so much more fun when you
have some one you like to do it with you. To that, he give me a
nice smile, said, “all full!” and carted of his load.

On a side note, I put him some where in the
1st grade on reading level now: at least half way through. Mema
would know better, so maybe she will correct this estimate in a
comment.