Lemonade Stand

A great antidote to summer boredom, especially on long, hot afternoons:

A Lemonade Stand!!

Here in our area, if you see a lemonade stand, it’s usually an Alex’s Lemonade Stand or Lemonade for Cancer Research — in other words, the purpose is to raise money for a good cause.

I can’t say we were quite so noble. Our fundraising was for my kids’ upcoming trip to the Magnificent Mile of Chicago, more specifically American Girl Place and the Disney Store.

We set up shop on Monday, which happened to be the hottest day of the summer so far. We situated ourselves on the sidewalk in front of our house, which happens to be across from the big daycare and adjacent to the bus stop coming from the city.

My 8 year old daughter hawked “fresh lemonade, only 50 cents a glass”; my 5 year old daughter dressed in red and white and made herself a red-striped hat and gave away “free home-popped popcorn” (my 8 year old’s idea: “to make people even more thirsty for lemonade”); my 7 year old son poured glasses and kept an eye on the supply levels, refilling pitchers when needed; and my 2 year old boy snuck lemonade and popcorn when nobody was looking.

The daycare parents and commuters in our “progressive” village seemed to really appreciate the throwback concept of a lemonade stand as a way for kids to make some extra pocket change. They were very kind and generous to my children, and some even sat on our steps with their kids to enjoy the lemonade and chat with us.

After paying me back for their supplies, my three older kids pocketed $9 each. Not bad for an hour and half. We even had a homeschool moment when they counted their change, paid me, and divided the remainder three ways. I liked that it kept them busy for the better part of an afternoon and gave us a chance to meet some more neighbors. We’ll give it a few weeks then do it all again!