GratiTuesday - Kidpreneurship

We're heading off to Disney World in a few months, and my husband and I have committed to planning this trip with the kids - so that the saving for the trip can be a real economics lesson for the kids.  As such, they realize that we now limit certain activities even more than we used to in the effort of saving money.  We've also given them the option of doing chores beyond their normal responsibilities for extra money to be used as pocket money when we reach Orlando.

My Big Helper quickly decided this extra chore thing wasn't for her.

I just figured she'd change her mind when we got within a few weeks of actually leaving on the trip.

Instead, she had another idea.  She asked to hold a lemonade stand.

My Big Helper sees me actively saving money.  We shop with coupons and only buy sale items.  We bypass many things because we don't really need them and wait to buy to see if the item's attractiveness remains a few days later.  She also sees us work to earn money - by selling clothes and toys at consignment sales, by holding yard sales, and by selling a few random things on Ebay.

But neither my husband nor I actually run our own business or anything.

The Big Helper, however, was adamant and talked about it for weeks.  She decided that the money she made would be added to her Disney Fund (the grandparents all pay better for chores than Mommy and Daddy do, it seems) and kept asking when we could do it.

So, this past Saturday saw us all hanging outside in the heat.  In the 90%+ humidity.  With the temperature above 90 degrees F.

But you know what?  My Big Helper sold lemonade.  And cupcakes.  Her enthusiasm drew in one set of grandparents and two neighbors.  She had cars turning around on a main street and people walking from two neighborhoods to buy from her.

Her lemonade stand was a raging success.  She made far more money than either I or her banker daddy ever dreamed she would.  (Stay tuned tomorrow for some things that I think helped her in this area.)  More importantly, however, she made a plan and followed through with it.

So today I'm grateful for a child's innocent enthusiasm.  For her willingness to work hard and step out of her comfort zone.  I'm grateful for her creativity and determination and the responsibility she's taking for her own spending money - she's certainly going above and beyond what her daddy and I expected of her.  I'm grateful for her kidpreneurship and for the friends, family members, and total strangers who stopped by and supported her in a big way.

I'm grateful for lemonade.  What a wonderful teacher it makes!

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