The Refreshment Stand

Came home after morning Bible Study to find my middle son had created a lemonade stand in our front foyer. The foyer is really just a patch of tiles about 4' by 6', but he had set up his place of business at one end to create a small "refreshment stand" on the tiles. The sign read simply:
Freezies 10cents
Peanut butter bread 75 cents
Iced Tea 25 cents
Well, when the entrepreneurial eldest son arrived on the scene, he immediately developed the business plan and "helped" get things "going". Within minutes a big sign was taped to our garbage can and sitting in the middle of the driveway - but now the "Refreshment stand" had a tag line - "all profits going to Neighbourhood Outreach" ( a local shelter for homeless folks).

I was enjoying them working together, and figured it all rather simple, yet delightful.

Then we got the idea of making cookies, to expand the menu, as well as a Sucker Tree and a Candy Tree. Less than an hour later, the "Refreshment Stand" had doubled its menu, and "improved" its decor to include a stool for customers to rest on, as well as some penguin napkins to spruce things up.

Now the advertising had to improve too. "Mom, what do we do to get people to stop?"

We found some old signs in our excess storage and posted them out on the major streets nearby. Then we came home and prepared for the onslaught of customers after school. (The signs were strategically posted near the local school around the corner - in time for dismissal).

At this point, I was hesitantly hopeful for a customer, but realistic that we may not see a soul. At the same time, I wanted to foster the hard work, charity, and entrepreneurship I was witnessing in my wee ones. Therefore, I thought we'd best get pretty distracted, so that waiting for a patron wouldn't result in my going batty... repeatedly saying, "Maybe the next car will stop in."

Long story short, no one stopped, and though the boys were disappointed, I was thankful for the experience. It was neat to see them work together like that. It was neat to see them think of passing the profits on to others in need. And it was neat to see them set it all up.

Hopefully next time we'll have some coin to show for their efforts, but in the meantime, the lessons were great... all in a day of school at home!