Andie.ink

My Dear Sweet Sons,

Today you sat outside for seven hours manning your Bake Sale stand and I am SO proud. Granted you were set up because we live right next to the airport where the drag races were at today. Granted your Dad and I did 99.9% of the prep work in order for this to happen. I spent three days baking and last night stayed up until 1 am. Granted, one or both of us stayed outside with you and calculated all the money costs. Let’s not forget the portion of sales you ate yourself… yes. I see those sticky hands…

What is important to me is that you sat out there because you wanted to work for what you wanted.
Which, in this case, is another new puppy. You did it last year and made a little over half of the cost of our dear Daisy Duke Banana. This year you knew what to expect, how to do it and you both were another year older.

I was proud as I watched you wave to the cars as they drove past. I was so proud as you smiled. I was so proud of my 3 year old introvert who came out of his comfort zone to wave and smile. Of course this only happened after I explained that #1: It makes people feel good when you smile and wave at them. #2. Smiling and waving helps makes customers stop. Either he has a big heart… or he is a business man.
I could NOT get him to speak to anyone though… because, in his words, “I just don’t love to talk to peoples I don’t know.”
Oh child. You are your father.

Dear almost 6 year old, I was so proud as you interacted with all the customers. You told them about what we had and were so excited to tell them what we were saving for. You were hilarious when you told them you wanted another “Doxshund.” This, of course, is a mix of Doxin and Dachshund. You were such a good business man as you made suggestions as to what else they could purchase by saying things like, “We have yummy popcorn as well,” and “We have cupcakes!” knowing that those two items were not selling. I was so proud how you asked to pray three MORE times throughout the day that we would get more customers.

My sons… I was especially proud when you didn’t lose heart when business was slower than last year and you kept waving, smiling and having a good attitude. You broke the bank of pride when I explained to you that we didn’t make a profit and that we just broke even. You were not disappointed. When we did our ‘Favorites of the Day’ at bedtime, you still said that the bake sale was your favorite. You are turning into men and today wasn’t just about a puppy. Today was about you learning that it’s not always about the outcome, but that it’s about hard work. It was about the process. It was about the experience.

The best part came when RIGHT before you fell asleep your Dad called. He asked to talk to you before you fell asleep so I put him on speaker phone.
Then he told you, “We will still get you a puppy somehow this week. You worked SO hard and I will find a way to make it happen for you.”

My sons,

I want you to know how proud we are of you. Today you have learned hard work has value just in the process of doing it, even without results. Tonight we felt satisfied with our day because we worked hard and THAT is a quality of a good man. Tonight your Dad is teaching you another lesson: a good man sacrifices.
This week somehow your Dad will sacrifice to get you what you have worked so hard for. He is putting you above himself. You worked hard and now he wants to bless you. You see, we are surrounded on this Earth by a large majority of people who work hard and then don’t get the results they wanted. We are surrounded by people who work hard and can’t even afford food for their families. We are so blessed. We are blessed to even have the opportunity to have a bake sale. This week you will probably get a puppy. This puppy will hopefully not only represent a lesson in hard work, but a lesson in sacrifice.

And that’s a good way for a puppy to join a family I think.

Me?

I’m just learning that I’m surrounded by three good men (plus the Cute One) and that’s all I will ever need.

And puppies… I will always need puppies.