So I got them out there with me and for $2 an hour they set to work. I had already gotten halfway by the time they got outside with Molloy in tow and they set to work beside me. I pushed the snow to the side, but they were determined to lift the snow and carry it across the driveway. I tried to teach them how it is easier to carry it to the nearest spot off the driveway (a location in golf I learned by watching my father drop many new balls after losing them to ditches, ponds, and streams. It is called, "nearest relief".) But the more I pushed to the side, the more they pushed in a different direction than I or carried it across great distances.
Naturally, I was much more efficient than they were and making greater progress down the driveway, while they diligently cleaned the same general area and always brought the snow to the same location. My part of the driveway got cleaner and cleaner while their pile of snow got higher and higher. Finally, they tuckered out and asked if they could stop, to which I replied, "That's fine, but you only get paid for the work you do."
"We understand," they all replied in unison as they dropped their shovels and leaped into the snow pile. And then it dawned on me; I had just paid my children $2 each to build a snowfort for themselves.
