Geordie: "Mummy, can I have a lemonade stand?"
Me: "Sure, you can have it tomorrow (Saturday) morning in front of the house."
Geordie: "Oh no, that wouldn't be good. Nobody comes down our street. We need to find another place."
Me: "People will be coming down tomorrow. There are yard sales going on throughout the neighbourhood so there will be a lot of traffic."
Geordie: "okay." not totally convinced!
So Saturday morning...well before 9 AM this was the scene outside our house;
Of course...it was slow moving at first and someone was just as excited to have access to non-stop lemonade.
The first car came down and Geordie stood beside his table and waved. The car turned around in the cul-de-sac and came up, stopped and gave him some money. He was okay with that! He quickly figured out that, that was what he needed to do; stand up and wave. His next customer was a very southern woman. He tried to only fill her glass up half way to which she responded, "oh no baby! you need to fill that up!".
So, little by little business picked up. Some just gave money. Others did buy a glass. Most people asked if this was the only thing that we were selling. The yard sale down here is a way of life! It's crazy. I am positive that some people make their living from it. You would not believe the amount of vehicles that drive around with trailors behind them going from yard sale to yard sale.
Well, in the end Geordie made $7.78. He was very happy;
What did he do with the money?!?!? He bought 'checkmarks'!
Sounds weird, huh?!? Or should I say, "eh"?!?
This idea started from a friend. Her children do various 'chores' to get checkmarks. Each checkmark is worth a dollar. They work their way up to the amount they need, to get what they want. For example her 8 year old (who was 7 at the time) got a Wii this way.
Geordie wanted the Lego Star Wars game which was $20 so he had to get 20 checks. He would do various things like clean the garage, help with laundry, vaccuum. We do not give checks for the regular things that he has to do such as clean up his toys. Once or twice we gave him a check just because he was incredibly well mannered somewhere or did a good deed.
Once he had the money from his sale we thought, why not let him buy some checks as well?!?
So, 7 check marks he bought! ...and is he ever happy!!
What do you do to teach your child that not everything comes for free or when they want it?
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2 comments:
Interesting idea (the checkmark one). He did really well with his stand! Way to go Gordie!
Ours aren't quite old enough to get that concept. However, they do have piggy banks which they can use towards buying "extra" toys. Like they need more toys. :0)
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