8.30.2009

Earning their keep

This afternoon after the grandparents left we all stayed out on the back patio to enjoy the GORGEOUS weather we had today. When it has been in the 100's and you have been trapped inside and it drops into the 80's you bolt for the great outdoors and you stay there.

For some reason Jack decided to pick up a small, red bucket that we had in the backyard. We use this often times to pick up pecans from the tree in the back. When we first moved here I loved that tree, and I still do to an extent, but it is always shedding something. If it isn't leaves, it is pecans or even those caterpillar looking things in the spring time (you know the ones that leave yellow pollen on everything). Ok, so you get the idea that there is ALWAYS something that needs to be picked up because of that beautiful shade tree. So, Mark tells Jack that if he will pick up pecans he will give him 5 cents for each one. At the time I'm sure he thought that Jack would lose interest and would pick up a few and move on, but boy was he wrong. That kid picked up 431 pecans (daddy picked up 6 additional on the way to the trash). If you add that up he made $21.85! Did we pay him that much? You bet your britches we did. Actually, we paid him $21.55 because I didn't realize that an additional 6 pecans had been picked up. That sweet boy even shared some of his money with his sister because she helped him gather pecans. He gathered two full buckets. He kept walking around saying "I am making money, I am making money."

Was that a lot of money for pecans? You bet it was! (surprisingly I had $21.55 in my wallet and I absolutely NEVER have money). Was it worth every penny watching him help and knowing that he was learning that you have to do things to earn money? Absolutely!

It was a very nice afternoon. We had a nice visit with family, the weather was perfect, and we watched our two little people working together instead of screaming at each other. It was great!

Love ya -

Amy




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good story.