Caitlin and Joshua are earning money beginning a summer campaign to raise some dough. If you haven’t heard about it, please check out the link!

Good for them!

The kids, with a bit of encouragement, have decided to start earning their own money for the summer. They are only 14 (Caitlin) and 12 (Joshua) but have a pretty good understanding of where things come from. They realize we can’t just go into a store and get things without offering up something of value in return (money). And because Julie and I have never operated on debt, the kids know that they need to have that money in advance.

They know that if they want go to movies, buy games, etc, that it takes money, and that that money must be earned in some way; either by themselves or somebody else on their behalf. They don’t think that money magically appears or that the world owes them anything.

Thankfully they are willing to get out, do some work, and provide services of value in order to earn the money they want to spend. I think they are admirable.

Kicking them out of the nest?

At some point in time every parent must decide when their kids must start earning money for themselves, instead of that parent continuing to earn money on the child’s behalf. We are not at that point yet. I know that my parents took care of me long past the ages of Caitlin and Joshua. Julie and I will keep doing the same for ours.

We are still providing for all of their necessities. We buy them school clothes, food, and other necessities. They haven’t been cut off financially. But due to our recent losses we aren’t in a position to provide many perks. They are at an age where those perks seem like necessities and they would like more than just enough to keep them alive. So they have chosen to earn more.

Now there are obviously things that they can’t afford in advance that we are willing help them with. For example, we signed up all of the kids for swimming lessons this summer. We also bought a full season pass for the pool. For a family of our size you might imagine those cost a fair amount of money.

Caitlin and Josh both agreed they wanted to do those things and they were willing to pay their share of the cost. Rather than make them miss some of the summer trying to earn the money first, we covered the cost, they will pay us back, and they will get to enjoy the full summer’s worth of activities.

Drawbacks

I hope that none manifest themselves, but I have some concerns about kids earning money.

I’d hate for the kids to view all of our/their acquaintances as potential customers. I want the kids to be kind and friendly with people because they are good people (which they are!), and not because they see them as somebody they can earn a few dollars from. Being good people needs to be first and foremost.
I don’t want them to “learn” that life is all about money. It isn’t! It never has been for Julie and I and I don’t want the kids to think so. Money is a useful tool for providing things in life, but it isn’t the goal of life. You don’t get a gold star for dying with the most money or having the most toys. I want them to do this as a means to an end, rather than seeing money as the end itself.

This was a popular bumper sticker and T-shirt in the 80’s

But this more accurately reflects the truth!

I don’t want friends/neighbors/relatives to have a bad experience. They are kids, and if they mess something up I don’t want to have any bad feelings develop amongst people we know. I don’t expect this to happen and that problem could be handled with some customer service skills.
I don’t want people to feel obligated to support them. I don’t want them to resent being asked. If you want bread, please order it. If not, please don’t do so because of guilt. They need to learn to accept rejection as well.
I don’t want them to think that Mom and I aren’t willing to take care of them. Sure, we are expecting some financial hardship, but I don’t want the kids to think that they are a burden on us, or are the cause of the issues.
I don’t want them to ruin their childhood. They only have a few short years of youth. I don’t want this to take up so much of their time that they don’t have time to play with friends, enjoy the pool, go to movies, etc. I am still willing to let them be kids.

Your experiences

What have you seen or experienced? I would love to hear some stories about when your children first started earning money. How did it go? Did it change them? For good or for ill? How could YOU have done better? How did you talk to them or teach them?

Earning Summer Cash

Not wanting to mooch off of Mom and Dad, Caitlin and Joshua are trying to raise money. They have summer activities they need to pay for and items lost in the fire they want to replace. They are already in the hole (to Jax and me) for swimming lessons and summer passes to the pool. Their chosen method to raise money is to sell bread products – loaves, rolls, etc. You might say they are “raising some dough.”

This isn’t new to them. They’ve both been making bread for a long time. We’ve made our own bread at our house for years now, and they both learned to do it. So you won’t be getting experimental bread, you’ll be getting our tried and true recipe for fantastic fresh bread.

Joshua's rolls — They look good, don’t they?

Orders

They would like to find a few regular customers, people who they can provide bread to on a regular basis on certain days of the week (Mr Jones every Monday; Mrs Smith on Tues. and Fri. for example). It’s available any day of the week except Sunday. It would be best if they didn’t have more than 4 loaves of bread or 4 dozen rolls on any one day.

One time orders are welcome as well! They won’t turn anyone away.

For special occasions they would do more 4 per day. For example, if you have a family reunion this summer and would like 12 dozen rolls, that would be fine with some advance notice. These would be great for occasions like Memorial Day BBQ, Birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinner, family Christmas Party.

All bread is white bread for now. As soon as we can get our wheat grinder from Missouri we will be able to offer wheat bread too.

Pricing

One loaf of bread: $5

One dozen rolls: $5

Half dozen rolls: $3

Half dozen cinnamon rolls: $5

2-4 Bread Bowls (for soup): $5 … number depends on the size you want the bowl.

Special pricing available for larger orders. If you want a specialty bread, like Italian bread, then make a request and they may be willing to fill it.

Shipping

Neither of these two can drive, so we’re anticipating customers to be local (in the PG area). We will deliver to you in that area. If you live outside of PG and want bread (rolls for lunch, or cinnamon rolls for the office maybe), then we will have to make arrangements for pickup (we could meet you near a freeway entrance for instance).

Morning delivery will be most likely. They will wake up, make the dough, and deliver the breads when they are done baking. You could have fresh, hot bread in the mornings for breakfast!

Would you like the smell of fresh bread in the morning?

For large special orders we can make arrangements for delivery to other locations. Again, just give us enough advance notice and we’ll make sure the kids take good care of you.

Order Your Dough Now!

So if you would like a weekly delivery of specially made fresh bread, then order now! We’ll take orders for up to 4 loaves, or 4 dozen rolls, per day. You can order by filling out the form below, private message on Facebook, or give us a call at 870-291-1520. Be sure to tell us which day you’d like regular deliveries on!

Satisfaction guaranteed. They are kids. They’ve been known to occasionally forget to add things like salt, or sugar. So if you get a bad batch then it will be replaced for free.

Payment expected upon delivery. Cash is preferred.

If you haven’t tasted our manna from heaven before, than a free sample will be provided upon request.

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Tag: Bread

Kids Earning Money