We had a yard sale at our house this past Saturday. To keep the boys occupied while we tried to sell our junk, Lauren built them a lemonade stand. Last week Max brought home a sponsorship form for a relay race to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Lauren decided to give the boys some baked goods to sell to give the proceeds to the charity.
I figured the lemonade stand would be a good way to teach the boys about money and business.
I really wish I had a security camera in the lemonade stand.
Max and Wyatt fought over who got to pour the lemonade. They fought over who got to take the money. They argued over who got to give the change. The only time they were not arguing was when they were eating the baked goods. I tried to explain to Wyatt that cookies needed to be paid for so we could give the money to charity. Wyatt went into the money till, took out a dollar and then "paid" for four cookies. Thankfully all of their customers were amused by their antics.
Once Max realized that only the lemonade money was for the boys he became a side show barker pimping only the drink. "Do you want lemonade?" he would yell at anyone who stopped by the yard sale. He yelled at cars that drove by, people walking their dogs, neighbors, anyone that was in earshot. Max really hustled. I think I need to teach him how to do Three Card Monte.
At the end of the day they made $60.00. Twenty went to the American Cancer Society and both Maxfield and Wyatt took twenty.
I tried talking the boys into saving their money. Neither one of them wanted anything to do with saving. We went to the store on Sunday, it seems that Max and Wyatt both inherited my spending genes.
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18 comments:
Friendless?
What about the Justice league?
You were the same way when you had that Vodka and Lemonade stand.
Love love love this!
Not sure if you remember but we did an art sale that turned into an art auction online for Earth Day. It's a great combo of letting then earn money but then giving sine back too.
Adorable! And I applaud your effort :) And thanks for the link :)
That is one kickass lemonade stand.
Wyatt looks a little bitter. Was the lemonade too tart?
Looks like they did great in their selling skills ... great idea. Sounds like they really enjoyed themselves. Cute pictures of the salesmen.
NO worries, seriously. Keep working at it and they will get it. My second son was the same way and now at almost 15, he can hold on to money in his wallet for weeks at a time. Used to be it was gone within a day! It took years, and has only been recent. I didn't think it would ever happen.
Of course, we stopped giving him allowance or any money at all about a month ago when we discovered what I had been suspecting. He is smoking, of all things. So we can't give him money because some losers will buy him cigarettes with the money. I wish they would get caught and fined since it is illegal. Also can't wait until his brain turns back on.
Enjoy the kids using their money for candy and toys, trust me!
You should roll a few used cars into your yard and teach them the do the "I'll take it to my Manager" bit as they slash prices.
60 bucks! Holy crap, they make more money than I do writing... I'm gonna start selling lemonade!
Kuddos to them (and you for making the donation)
Sorry, Bill, but most kids have NO concept of saving. They can't think that far into the future. :o) But the little lessons you're teaching them about giving will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
On a side note, that is the best lemonade stand I've ever seen. Is there anything your wife CAN'T do?
your boys are so blessed to have you and Lauren as parents.
that is a kick-ass lemonade stand.
That IS a kick ass lemonade stand. I feel like this could be just the start for your boys. Maybe they'll look into franchising soon. There's a chance my boys may take up the reigns here in the midwest. One's got a major case of Bakugan fever and needs the case to feed the addiction. I simply can't contribute to his habit. Mostly because I'm always broke.
I'm with you. Raking in and then spending money can be fun, but doing anything else with it is pretty boring. I hope my kids have my wife's money sense.
OK maybe I live in a cheap neighbourhood, but $60?!? That's like 240 cups of lemonade! How did they sell so much?
(Also: have you considered getting them jobs at an auto dealership?)
$60?!? That's more than I made at my last yard sale!
Obviously, Lauren's genes are prevailing nicely. :)
PS: My word is "cychloin"
I'm just seriously impressed by the lemonade stand. Can Lauren come and build one for my kid, too, so I can stop sponsoring every Jump Rope for the Heart and so on myself?
Quite a lemonade stand! Lauren should market that shit. I also made one for my kids. I used my husband's rickety play workbench from 1972 marked with my 6-year-old's penmanship advertising the yummy confection. It read: "LM NAD." They didn't sell much.
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