Messes for sale!

Last year I started listening to Free Capitalist Radio and learning all about the principles of Capitalism. It was fascinating! I started applying the principles at home and teaching the boys things I was learning. Thus began the Recycling with Ethan saga.

I declared an end to the recycling season with the first rains last year and sent out a letter to the neighbors thanking them for participating. Ethan has been asking me to start recycling in the neighborhood again. I've been putting it off. Ethan has decided to not be a victim to my procrastination.

He has been rather resourceful and has come up with plenty of other ideas in which he can create value and make some money. We drove by some kids in front of their house selling lemonade. He was fascinated with the idea and started mixing his own lemonade first by pouring lemon juice into the sugar and then sugar into straight lemon juice. I helped him dilute the second batch, but he insisted on setting up a lemonade stand in the living room using every glass in the cupboard. You could tell where he had walked carrying his product because the floors were sticky and made noise as your shoes lifted out of the stick.

This morning Ethan set up another food vending venture. He came into the bathroom and proudly announced to Michael and I that he was open for business selling real food and he expected real money. I went into the living room to find a fort (his store front) built out the trampoline, bins and blankets and the opened shredded wheat bag inside his store. Hunter decided to be his competition and poured out several piles of shreded wheat directly onto the carpet. Elle, the only customer in sight seemed to prefer the easy access of Hunter's store.

I let the children finish eating the pile of shredded wheat off the floor but confiscated the opened bag that Ethan was stocking his store with.

Undaunted, Ethan made a sign with the numbers 10 20 and displayed it in front of his still standing fort. He said that the numbers were how much it cost to go in his fort. He went through the rationalization of Hunter's financial capacity and then told me that I had to give Hunter money for the entry fee since he didn't have any. $10.20 seemed rather steep to me so I gave Hunter 10 pennies, which was satisfactory for Ethan to let Hunter in. As a gesture of good will Ethan announced that babies did not have to pay the entry fee and gave Elle free access to his fort.

Since Ethan was in the mood for lessons in Capitalism I thought we'd continue his game. I called the boys for breakfast and gave Ethan his menu and the prices for each item. A bowl of cereal is 5 pennies. Milk is 2 pennies. A vitamin is 1 penny.

Ethan paid the 5 cents for his cereal and the one for his vitamin. He was torn over splurging for milk, though. He finally relented and paid the extra 2 cents for milk. What struck me about the whole thing is that he showed enormous respect and manners at breakfast. He answered my questions about his "order" by using ma'am and was extremely polite when he asked for a napkin. He didn't finish his cereal, but I didn't feel compelled to make him eat all of it either since he paid for it.

Huh.