Lemonade Stand

June 18, 2014

Tessa is an idea person. She gets these big ideas and shares them with me, she also lets me know how to make an event or situation even more spectacular. Most often I look at her and wonder if she has me confused with someone else. I like to make things nice, but I am a minimalist. Or I avoid it completely. 

Sometime in May, Tessa decided she wanted to have a lemonade stand party. She told me about it, and rather than pay much attention, I told she'd have to be the one to plan it. She nailed down a date in June and proceeded to tell one friend at school and one at church about it and even brought an invitation for each. 

As the date got closer, I realized Tessa wasn't giving up on her lemonade idea, so I told her what supplies she'd need and told her she'd have to buy most of them. She made a list, and we went shopping. How could I squash the dream that she worked on? It's one thing to expect me to do it all, but she really made some detailed plans to carry it through. I can get behind that.

Tessa's friend Anna joined us for the hot afternoon of entrepreneurship. Her school friend wasn't able to make it, but there were plenty of "employees" available as the excited siblings joined in.

They finished the sign, and although at first it seemed we'd get rained on before we could even start, the rain clouds went away really soon after Tessa said a fervent prayer that they would.

For sale: Lemonade, strawberry lemonade, cookies, and popcorn. 

It was a success! The kids set up shop on our little corner lawn at our townhouse complex. Most people have to drive by us on their way home at the complex; and, come on, look at these faces. How could you pass them by? 

They were out there for a good couple of hours and remained fairly busy. Tessa never took a break. A couple of adults commented on how nice it was to see this because it made the complex feel a little more friendly. Anna's mom and I stayed back to let the kids take charge of the business (but close enough to shoo away the creepy UPS man if necessary). It was really fun to see the kids step up in this way and interact with strangers to sell their wares. Tessa recouped her original supply costs and had enough to pay all of her employees. I think she walked away with seven dollars profit for herself. I was really proud of her for seeing it all through.