A few weeks ago, I desperately wanted the boys to get out of the house and play. They refused. So, I gave them a job. I told them that I would give them $1 a piece for each pound of pecans they picked up. Having no idea how many pecans were out there, how many pecans were in a pound or how motivated Asa and Addison would be, I put my baby scale on the porch and let them go for it. Just as I had hoped, they spent hours out there, happily picking and playing and talking.
In a couple days, they had picked a total of 6 pounds. Wow. That came to $6 a piece. I chalked it up to affordable childcare and gave them their $6 each. They wanted to pick more and I explained to them a little about supply and demand. See, I have a lot of pecans now, so I don't need as many as I did before... so I won't pay as much as I did before. The new deal was $1 per pound to be split between them. They went out and played and picked and talked... and picked... and picked... and came home from school each day talking about how they couldn't wait to get home and pick more pecans. Well, at this point, they have picked a grand total of 39 pounds of pecans. Just under $20 per kid! Do you know how far $20 goes when you're five? Good grief.
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