The Homeschool Regel: And the Dog Biscuit Business Begins...

Much to my delight, SJ plopped on the couch shortly after his last pronouncement of needing money and said, "Dog biscuits." My daughter uses this term as a polite expletive. He meant it in the truest sense, as in dog biscuits for sale.

Let me note that he isn't one of those kids with a budding entrepreneurial bent. He is generally averse to work which offers the clue that he was highly motivated by something. Whatever works is what I say. In this case, it's an out-of-town paintball event and it gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss "true" costs.

At first glance, this thing was a $15 deal and, of course, that's how he was selling it to me. I had him add in the cost of his paintballs, keeping in mind that this would be an out-of-town trip and that he would probably want more than five minutes worth of paintballs. At this point, he still felt pretty good about the cost. Next I explained that he would require the use of my car for the trip so I had him Google the mileage and figure out the cost for gas. His face fell as he realized his little $15 day would now cost about $80.

Apparently he really wants to go as evidenced by the fact he came up with a solution to the money problem on his very own. It's been a fun process for both of us and he has started to see the possibility of repeat business and expansion into the feline world. Sometimes lessons come in little surprises.