I woke up this morning to news that people from our neighborhood would be cleaning up the Prado (the North End’s Paul Revere Mall). Our apartment overlooks the Prado and is a central part of our daily lives. Several times a day we walk our dog there, meet up with friends from the neighborhood (and their pups), walk through it on our way to work, and simply take a seat to enjoy a few moments of relaxation. Moreover, the Prado is a big part of Caleb’s life. It is one of his favorite places to go as he sees a lot of people that he knows, gets to hang out with the neighborhood pets (Logan, Diesel, Pistol, and others), and has a chance to run around with abandon. (The photo to the right is of Caleb walking through the Prado this past winter.)

So we headed out, grabbed a broom, and pitched in. Caleb brought his own broom and spent most of the time spreading out the various piles of leaves that had been arranged. …A master at getting into the thick of things, he is.

Despite Caleb’s efforts to re-spread the leaves across the Prado, the bottom line is that he was helping to clean up his neighborhood. It wasn’t play time or time to do whatever he pleased, it was time to work to take care of the place he spent so much time having fun. And indeed, Caleb helped clean and care for the Prado.

Truthfully, when he wasn’t attacking the leaf piles, he was very helpful. He held a snow shovel in place while Megan swept a bunch of leaves into it. Then he carried his load over to (well a few feet shy of) a pile, unloaded, and went back for more. The take-away that I had was that not only did Caleb enjoy himself, but he was also doing something good for the community. I realized that he didn’t jump right in just because he’s a good kid — he did so also because Megan and I spend a lot of time making sure he is conscientious of the world around him. At home we have him throw things in the trash, tidy up his room, help clean the house, and whatever other tasks that we can involve him in to teach responsibility and a good work ethic. And go figure — it works! Now if we are in a park eating lunch, he’ll more or less find a trash can and throw everything away without being asked.

Aside from the above benefits, Caleb is learning to be a good example, and will also develop a greater sense of pride about where he lives and where he plays. I don’t really see any downsides to that — perhaps we should clean the park more often.