My oldest son, Justice, was born on Thanksgiving Day {we’re Canadian, so we just celebrated}.
The weekend was chill – Lego in front of the fire, crafts at the kitchen table, cake for breakfast.
Until.
We started talking about money.
What money is, how it works, and what it can do.
Justice has always been fascinated with money – he started working for me when he was four years old.
This year he wanted to dive deeper. I want to have my own business mama.
I asked him, what do you love to do that people would pay you for?
He pondered the question and looked confused for a few minutes before asking his little brother, what would you want to give me money for?
Pizza!! {my littlest little man would eat pizza every night if I would let him}
Justice’s business was born.
We spent the rest of the weekend grocery shopping for supplies, finding a vacuum sealer, making his order form, creating pizzas, and finally selling them door-to-door.
By the end of the weekend, he had abandoned his birthday Lego set and was $83 richer.
And, I was wiser. Here’s what he taught me.
Don’t let rejection stop you.
Every house he visited bought at least one pizza from him.
Until.
She slammed the door in his face without saying a word.
I was waiting on the sidewalk so Justice could enjoy his independence as he sold his pizza. From 30 feet away I could hear the bang of the door. My fierce mama instinct kicked in, I took a few deep breaths and settled myself before he returned to me. I was fully prepared to comfort his crushed heart.
Except, there was no crushed heart to comfort.
Justice shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and said maybe the next one will want to be friends before walking to the next house.
Don’t let rejection stop you.
Don’t give it all away.
Justice is a generous soul – he often gives away his toys, lets other people go first, asks me what cartoon I want to watch, and donates a portion of his birthday money to charity.
And.
He wasn’t letting anyone eat his inventory without paying for it. Not grandma, or daddy, or even his pizza-loving little brother, Truth.
His Pizza Shop is a serious business and serious businesses don’t give it all away.
Don’t give it all away.
Assume the best.
Before Justice made his sales calls we worked with his money, practiced making change, filled out a fake order form, and reviewed his sales pitch.
When he first shared his sales pitch with me it went like this.
Hi, my name is Justice. How many pizzas would you like to buy from me?
After some high fives and giggles we ended up reviewing his sales offer to say,
Hi, my name is Justice. I have a pizza shop. Would you like to buy some pizza from me?
It wasn’t until later, I realized how confident his first sale pitch was. He was assuming he would get what he wanted.
Assume the best.
Creation is what matters.
By the end of the weekend Justice was vibrating with enthusiasm. I’m sure he was excited about the $83 he earned and the confidence he built.
But, what mattered more was the process of creating. Mama can we skip school and make more businesses and more pizzas and more friends?
Creating a business. Creating pizzas. Creating connection.
Creation is what matters.
P.S. in the digital world, I protect my kids privacy by using their middle names {Truth & Justice} when I write about them.