We had two granddaughters visit us Sunday. At 5 and 7, they have abundant energy. Since we're into our 70s, that can become wearing. There are no toys here for kids, and adult conversations don't really appeal to them. While we had a great chat with their Mom (Daddy had to work), they needed something to keep them busy for a bit. There would be a bonfire and weenie roast shortly, but there was still time to kill.
With all the yard work I've been doing this summer, there are things still very much not getting done. At least one of those things is much better for short bodies stooping over than for mine. I came up with a plan. I could let them do a chore that - hopefully - would be fun for them, and they could have a chance to earn some spending money. I happened to have a whole bunch of quarters I'd saved for the laundromat when I still thought the basement steps would be too much for me. Turns out I can navigate the stairs down to Paul's washer and dryer, and the quarters have been untouched.
We also had a pair of plastic ice cream buckets with handles, just a perfect size for small arms and hands to fill and carry around. There is also an apple tree that has been dropping buggy apples all over since it hadn't gotten sprayed in time to prevent the infestation... for the last several years. In fact, the decision has been made to take the tree down since there is no interest in continuing to prune and spray as needed in order to get a harvestable crop.
I took the girls outside, gave each a bucket, pointed out the apples and the compost pile (our former fish pond) where they needed to be tossed or dumped. Find your fun however you like so long as they go in. For each bucket that is filled, with me as the decider on how full is full, and emptied into the old pond, I would pay $2.00.
Both girls were interested. The older one took great pride in filling her bucket quickly, over and over. She also had enough arithmetic skill to keep a correct count, both in buckets and dollars. The younger one had a few reservations about rotten apples, not to mention the occasional bug, but fortunately there were only a very few of each. She also had interesting ideas about how full her bucket needed to be to be declared full. Her big sister helped insist the level needed to be higher than halfway. Then higher than 3/4 way. Eventually I stepped in and "discovered" a subtly collected pile of apples to be picked up by the younger one, and big sister was happy enough with her own skill and ability to spot them to accept her sister getting an occasional assist.
By the time the job was over, older sister dumped 7 buckets and her sister 3. Good thing I'd counted my quarter collection the day before and checked for a few dollar bills as well! It lasted just as long as the apples did, plus 3 bills. Older sister thinks she wants to buy another doll in a particular brand that offers several to collect. Mom says their prices start within her new budget. Younger sister had no idea how to spend hers, but was happy with just having some money of her own to spend. Fortunately she was also hazy on how much more her sister earned than she had, just happy that she hadn't had to work as hard as big sister. Each got their proceeds in a ziploc bag which went to Mommy's purse for safekeeping until it was time to spend it.
Now the question is: with the tree coming down, what are we going to do next year? What have I started?
Oh, and as I passed the apple tree this morning on my way to finishing yard cleanup from last week's yard work, I noticed we'd had a wind yesterday. While there are still several bushels worth on the tree, the ground was again littered with windfall buggy apples. Guess they'll stay there. I'm out of quarters and no more grandkids are due who might like to pick them up. I might see if a certain 3-year-old great-grand kid wants to practice throwing them pondwards this weekend. Hmm? After she gets over being shy around us again, of course. I'm pretty sure she can't hit any windows.... Well, not hard anyway.
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