This morning we woke up and Dakota said she wanted to have a lemonade stand. Sounded great to me! We have never had one before and it was something all of the kids got excited about. We had the lemonade ingredients...we just needed a pitcher to serve it in, and some cups. We went to a grocery store that we haven't been to since they remodelled it. This was fun and exciting in itself! We got everything we needed and came home.
When we got home, we made signs and got everything set up. Joe hammered the signs into the ground and I set up a blanket nearby and hung out with Orion and read to him while the kids waited for their first customer. While we set up the kids and I discussed how to greet people, how to serve the lemonade, how to make change and all the little details of having their own "business".
Their first customer stopped and the kids just about jumped out of their seats. Devin greeted them with a, "How are you doing today?" and Dakota ended with a, "Would you like a slice of lemon in your lemonade?" The cars stopped every couple of minutes. Who can resist three adorable little kids sitting behind a lemonade stand waving to you as you drive by? I know I couldn't!
They absolutely blew my mind. I am still in awe of how amazing they handled everything! Never having done anything like this before, I didn't know what to expect, but they were confident, positive and so friendly to everyone!
They made $23.00 in less than 3 hours! Almost everyone told them to keep the change and gave them tips for great service! It was one of those days when I see how incredible this Unschooling life actually is. Seriously....I got a glimpse into all they know already about business that they have learned just through immersion living by our side as we have run our own business. Where we don't believe in testing of drill our kids and picking their brains, we don't really know what they know....we just trust that they are learning everything that they need to in life and you know what? Trusting kids to learn really works. You never have to force a child to learn anything, really....you don't. Kids can't help learning when they have a rich, full, exciting life together with involved parents.
Yup....the Martin kids learned so much today, as they do everyday...I just got to see it loud and clear today in such a unique way! It was one of those days that brought me further up the ladder of trust and understanding of how well a respectful, free life is in preparing my kids for the future, even though we don't think about that much. We focus on living in the moment most of the time.
They worked out their roles as they sat getting ready. Devin handled the money while Dakota served everyone. It was fun helping them understand good customer service and sanitary ways to serve customers. The kids saw themselves as strong, capable and intelligent. They grew so much today from just a simple lemonade stand! They learned that they never have to work for anyone else in life if they don't want to. They learned the art of "UnJobbing" and it felt so good to help them on this path of entrepreneurship!
The lemonade is chilling in the fridge for tomorrow... The kids can't wait for their second day with thier very own money making business! Tomorrow is going to be a good day.... as usual.
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