little entrepreneur's

After soccer games, on Halloween day, we did some kid swapping with the Lorenzana's; Boston for Maya. Ethan was the odd man out, since he really wasn't going to be hanging out with Sophia, who slept most of the time anyway. The girls decided they wanted to do a lemonade stand, but didn't want Ethan to tag along. The next thing I know, Ethan is filling a pitcher with water, and is making a sign. Of course, I can't read it since he is just learning to spell, so I ask him what he is doing and he says, "Mom, I'm going to sell water!" How nice of him to not sell lemonade and give the girls some competition. I'm then thinking, "Good luck with that!". Then I see Ethan coming downstairs with random things like a whistle, marbles, etc. Basically things he pulled out of his junk drawer. My first inclination was to stop him from a train wreck (or at least I perceived would be one). Then I decided not to squash the innovative entrepreneur in him and let him go for it. (It definitely is a step up from copying money like last week!) I had something that took my attention away from him for a minute, and when I went to check on him, I found him outside at the opposite corner of the girls, just sitting on the ground with his pitcher of water, cups, and a bag full of his random collection of things. I quickly grabbed Ben and told him to bring him a chair. He patiently sat there waiting for customers for over an hour! He never moved, and just waited for someone to pick him over the girls.

This is what the girls lemonade stand looked like.

I LOVED that it didn't intimidate him from doing his own thing. He was a bit sad when he was comparing all the people that stopped at their stand, to the people that came to him. It was hard to tell him that he should be grateful that people took pity on him enough to actually pay him for water! He ended up with 6 dollars! (Ethan has been asking if he could do a lemonade stand every day since!)

My heart was so full of gratitude for all those people who saw a little boy who was trying hard and bought his water. I saw a quote once (in one of those feel good coffee table books) that said, "Always stop at a kids lemonade stand". I have always stuck by that, and now I see why it is so important, more than ever! On a side note, Maya and Aubrie raked in 21 dollars. One customer gave them a 10! Again, what generosity in such hard economic times!!!