Entrepreneur and Beaver Boy

Today when I picked Noah up from school he was very excited about a new plan he had thought up to set up a stand in the yard to sell various snacks from our house. I tried to explain to him that, since the wind was blowing about 60 mph, tonight might not be the best day for such an endeavor. I really did not want to have to sit outside with him, and, sadly, in this crazy world we live in, I would never let him be outside in the driveway waving at passing cars by himself. He would not be swayed, however, and found a box for his "wares" and wrote the prices on the box. Cookies and crackers were $.40, yogurt was $.60, and Gatorade was $1.00. He set up his little shop in the driveway and sat there hopefully waiting for people to go by.

Unfortunately, most people were still at work, but he was patient. When our neighber came home from work, Noah ran over to give him his sales pitch and came back with $1.00 and a HUGE smile on his face. I felt terrible for trying to talk him out of something he was so excited about. Soon other neighbors came home and, when all was said and done, he managed to make $4.00! He now thinks he's going to sell his goods every day after school. I told him that if he continues to have success, he's going to have to buy his own merchandise rather than raiding our pantry.

So what about Beaver Boy? Last year Noah had a wonderful kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Broesch, who would give him extra projects that went along with topics they were talking about. One project that he really got into was when they were learning about beavers. He had me take him to the public library and got a bunch of books about beavers and then did a presentation to the class about how they make their homes. I came up to school and helped the kiddos make little beaver dams using chowmein noodles and peanut butter. We learned more about beavers than I ever thought was possible or that I ever wanted to know.

This year, Mrs. Broesch is teaching 2nd grade. She was planning her lesson plans, and, apparently, 2nd grade also has a beaver lesson. She asked Noah if he wanted to be a "guest presenter" and talk to her class about beavers. We made another trip to the library and he did some "research" and planned a little talk about the important points about beavers and their homes. He was so excited about his presentation and said it went well.

He said that since 1st graders and 2nd graders go to lunch at the same time, that some of the 2nd graders have been approaching him to ask questions about beavers. I wanted to be sure and blog about this, because I think when he is a high schooler he will be pleased that he was the "beaver expert" as a 1st grader.