Lemonade stands and new people
I've been meaning to post about this for a bit, and finally got around to it today.
Lemonade stands.
My daughters have been wanting to do one for a while. Around my condo, it never seemed like a good idea. Not because it isn't safe here, but because there aren't many people about during the day. Even on weekends. So, we didn't.
Last Sunday, we did a stand at Tom's house. He's in an old house in the city, in an old neighborhood, one where the sidewalks are a lot lower than the front door. The girls set up shop at the foot of the stairs to the sidewalk, after we hung about a dozen signs a block up and a block down.
Blow me over, but they did well. $15. Lemonade was 25 cents a cup. Water was 75 cents. Ice pops were a dime. Many people told them to keep the change, most memorably 2 truck loads of contractors who parked in the middle of the street to buy 6 cups for $3. The girls also got a few customers who saw them and their signs, pulled a U turn at the stop sign and came back.
We were all very proud.
Last night, Mari went over to a friend's house, and they sold soda off the girl's front lawn for a couple hours. Mari made a few dollars, it was a hot night. However, her friend is, and this will sound awful, Not American, and doesn't quite get that what you sell should be a good deal. I didn't interfere, though. After a few people passed them by, Mari got her to lower their price from $2 for a can of soda to $1. They did reasonably well after that, considering it was nearly dark.
Now, I applaud Mari's Serbian friend's business drive. But I'm feeling more now like I should have a garage sale and invite her over to "help". She can get a good idea then of how Americans are with this sort of thing. Kids selling lemonade are "cuter" than kids selling soda. Lemonade implies that they at least mixed powder with water in a pitcher, while soda implies someone raided their parents' fridge. A quarter is cheap, and low enough for people to want to stop and encourage kids, and maybe leave a "tip". $2 for a soda is more than you pay at a gas station.
Not this weekend, but maybe the next, we'll invite her over to do a lemonade stand. The ice pops are on sale again, the lemonade is cheap, and the bags of ice are only a dollar each. Sitting out on a sidewalk, waving to strangers, making change and pouring a few glasses is priceless.
My daughters are in love with my boss. :D They've met her twice now, and today she offered to pick them up from daycare (giving Tom a break) to take them to the pool by her house, as it was a really hot day. She made them pizza, had chocolate milk and was SO FUN. They stayed in the pool a while after I got over there, and after, they pulled their best manners out and got candy, more pizza and more chocolate milk. Saturday, when they met her for the first time, Brigid trailed her around Office Depot like a little chattering shadow.
So, yeah. The good news is that she like the kids and the kids love her. :) She said she'd be fine, if I had a need, with me dropping them off early on Saturdays (her day off!!), and she's going to figure out what other days she can pick them up for pool time.
Not only do I appreciate this, as my parents leave for Florida again in October, but it makes me feel really good as a parent. She's a mom as well - 15-year-old boy. So, while mine drive me nuts sometimes, I know that a woman who's going through the teenage angst thinks my daughters are a treat. Well mannered, sweet and adorable to boot.
It's a thought I'm going to have to keep at the forefront when the whining and bickering are driving me mad. "It's only for me, they're really good kids for other people, I'm teaching them well."
Lemonade stands.
My daughters have been wanting to do one for a while. Around my condo, it never seemed like a good idea. Not because it isn't safe here, but because there aren't many people about during the day. Even on weekends. So, we didn't.
Last Sunday, we did a stand at Tom's house. He's in an old house in the city, in an old neighborhood, one where the sidewalks are a lot lower than the front door. The girls set up shop at the foot of the stairs to the sidewalk, after we hung about a dozen signs a block up and a block down.
Blow me over, but they did well. $15. Lemonade was 25 cents a cup. Water was 75 cents. Ice pops were a dime. Many people told them to keep the change, most memorably 2 truck loads of contractors who parked in the middle of the street to buy 6 cups for $3. The girls also got a few customers who saw them and their signs, pulled a U turn at the stop sign and came back.
We were all very proud.
Last night, Mari went over to a friend's house, and they sold soda off the girl's front lawn for a couple hours. Mari made a few dollars, it was a hot night. However, her friend is, and this will sound awful, Not American, and doesn't quite get that what you sell should be a good deal. I didn't interfere, though. After a few people passed them by, Mari got her to lower their price from $2 for a can of soda to $1. They did reasonably well after that, considering it was nearly dark.
Now, I applaud Mari's Serbian friend's business drive. But I'm feeling more now like I should have a garage sale and invite her over to "help". She can get a good idea then of how Americans are with this sort of thing. Kids selling lemonade are "cuter" than kids selling soda. Lemonade implies that they at least mixed powder with water in a pitcher, while soda implies someone raided their parents' fridge. A quarter is cheap, and low enough for people to want to stop and encourage kids, and maybe leave a "tip". $2 for a soda is more than you pay at a gas station.
Not this weekend, but maybe the next, we'll invite her over to do a lemonade stand. The ice pops are on sale again, the lemonade is cheap, and the bags of ice are only a dollar each. Sitting out on a sidewalk, waving to strangers, making change and pouring a few glasses is priceless.
My daughters are in love with my boss. :D They've met her twice now, and today she offered to pick them up from daycare (giving Tom a break) to take them to the pool by her house, as it was a really hot day. She made them pizza, had chocolate milk and was SO FUN. They stayed in the pool a while after I got over there, and after, they pulled their best manners out and got candy, more pizza and more chocolate milk. Saturday, when they met her for the first time, Brigid trailed her around Office Depot like a little chattering shadow.
So, yeah. The good news is that she like the kids and the kids love her. :) She said she'd be fine, if I had a need, with me dropping them off early on Saturdays (her day off!!), and she's going to figure out what other days she can pick them up for pool time.
Not only do I appreciate this, as my parents leave for Florida again in October, but it makes me feel really good as a parent. She's a mom as well - 15-year-old boy. So, while mine drive me nuts sometimes, I know that a woman who's going through the teenage angst thinks my daughters are a treat. Well mannered, sweet and adorable to boot.
It's a thought I'm going to have to keep at the forefront when the whining and bickering are driving me mad. "It's only for me, they're really good kids for other people, I'm teaching them well."