For the past 3 days I have had a 10 gallon orange cooler on my counter filled with lemonade (left over from the ward activity). Everyday for dinner the kids get a glass, but at that rate it will never get empty and off my counter. So I decided that the kids could use it for a lemonade stand. They were very excited. (Don't worry--the lemonade was not purchased by the ward.) We made a plan of what would be needed to make a lemonade stand and sell lemonade. Then they got to work making signs and pulling stuff together.
It was slow going at first ("why is noone stopping?" and "all they are doing is waving."), but each time they made a sale they got the biggest smiles. They waved at cars as they drove by (we have the prime spot for this business--a corner house) and tried to get them to stop. Several cars were from neighbors who parked at home and then walked back. Most of the people would buy 1 cup ($.25) and pay with a dollar and give the change as a tip. One lady gave the kids a roll of quarters for 1 cup. Another guy just stopped and gave the kids a dollar and didn't buy any lemonade. The kids might have sold 15 cups, but they made over $20. It was great to see them talk to and interact with strangers.
Afterward Jonathan taught a lesson on taxes (what I've recently learned is legalized plunder). He had the kids show them all the money they earned and then he took $2.00 from each of them. He talked about how that made them feel. He went on to teach them about how the government takes money from us to help others and how it shouldn't be that way. We should be able to choose who we give our money to and how we want to spend it--it shouldn't be forced on us. I'm not sure if they really understood, but at least we are planting seeds. (sorry, this picture is really blurry)
The kids were happy for the rest of the evening and made plans for how they want to spend their share of the money.
It was slow going at first ("why is noone stopping?" and "all they are doing is waving."), but each time they made a sale they got the biggest smiles. They waved at cars as they drove by (we have the prime spot for this business--a corner house) and tried to get them to stop. Several cars were from neighbors who parked at home and then walked back. Most of the people would buy 1 cup ($.25) and pay with a dollar and give the change as a tip. One lady gave the kids a roll of quarters for 1 cup. Another guy just stopped and gave the kids a dollar and didn't buy any lemonade. The kids might have sold 15 cups, but they made over $20. It was great to see them talk to and interact with strangers.
Afterward Jonathan taught a lesson on taxes (what I've recently learned is legalized plunder). He had the kids show them all the money they earned and then he took $2.00 from each of them. He talked about how that made them feel. He went on to teach them about how the government takes money from us to help others and how it shouldn't be that way. We should be able to choose who we give our money to and how we want to spend it--it shouldn't be forced on us. I'm not sure if they really understood, but at least we are planting seeds. (sorry, this picture is really blurry)
The kids were happy for the rest of the evening and made plans for how they want to spend their share of the money.
Article of Faith #12: We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
ReplyDeleteTaxes do help us it's just too bad we don't have more say in what is done with them.
Love you guys!
such a cute idea! I can't wait to do a lemonade stand when my boys are a little older! Thanks for the sweet comments on my blog... I agree, I have the best sisters-in-law!
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