Who Wants Some Lemonade??

Alex has been begging for ways to make money. Since summer began, our "Mom Bucks" system kinda went out the window. Every once in a while I've let him earn some money for certain things by doing chores around the house. But I decided that I would let him try something else to earn some money. Lemonade stands were pretty common (from what I can remember) when I was little. I remember doing them all the time. So, to relive my glory days and to help my kid create some fun memories, I mentioned having him do a lemonade stand. He wasn't sure about the idea, but agreed to it. We decided to go crazy and sell a few other items as well. We had Otter Pops, Double chocolate chip cookies, Lemonade and Shasta soda. I decided this time I would donate the items and not make them pay me back for them. Alex helped make the signs and sort of helped me get things ready. He decided he wanted to invite his buddy Christian to come help with the stand... even if that meant splitting the profits in half. We packed up the van and brought everything down to Orchard Drive and set it all up. The boys held their signs up, jumped and ran around to attract customers. We stayed out for 2 1/2 hours from 11:00-1:30 and took a break for lunch. We decided we'd head back out around rush hour to see what we could do. We were out again from 5:30-7:15 in the evening. All together, the boys made $28.00... thanks to some very generous tips from parents, grandparents and neighbors. :) The boys were THRILLED with how much money they earned and Christians parents couldn't quite believe the stack of money he came home with. Alex's last comment of the day was, "I think we should do this every day until school starts!" Yeah, I don't think so! One day was good for me. You might be able to get one more out of me in the near future. But I will agree that it was a blast. We were able to stay cool in the shade and the boys stayed very hydrated on the lemonade they were supposed to be selling. :)

Darek loved being included with the big boys and loved holding his sign up. It scared me a lot to be on a main road, but he was surprisingly good and never stepped foot in the street.

Alex's sign cracked me up! I loved that that's what he decided to write. :)

One more story... One of the cars that pulled up to buy stuff had a sweet little boy in the back seat, a little younger than Alex. His mom got some cookies and asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted to get an Otter Pop and made sure his mom got one for his younger sister and then had to tell me he was going to get one for his little sister. He talked to me while we were getting everything for them. He asked me if I liked banana bread. I told him that I did. He said he had made some with his grandma that day, a whole bunch of little loaves. He pulled one out of the bag to show me. I asked him if he was going to go sell them. He said no and said he wanted to give them to his friends and neighbors and then said that he wanted me to have one too. I asked him if he wanted some money for it. He smiled and said no. I totally got choked up! I took it and thanked him profusely for the bread. He got a huge smile on his face and said, "Your welcome! I hope you like it." I know how easy it is to be selfish sometimes and always want to "get something" for another thing. But this moment from this little boy reminded me how easy it can be to do something selfless. It left quite the impression on me and I hope I will keep it in mind the next time I'm feeling selfish. I've also decided that no matter what (unless it's a life or death emergency) I will stop at every lemonade stand I see. And I will always leave them a tip. It doesn't matter all that much to me, but it means the world to those kids! :)