We have a money tree in our yard! It drops these little sharp-looking things on the grass... these are called sweet gum balls. I know they don't look like money, but once they are picked up, they magically turn into pennies! All you have to do is collect them in a bag, count them out, and then cash them in with the Webb Family Financial Managers (a.k.a. parents). It's that easy. 1 sweet gum ball = 1 penny.
Last year the girls collected 1,030 of those little things in about an hour. It's a good thing we don't have a big yard! In case your math is slow (like mine) that's $10.30. I'm glad I set the price at a penny apiece instead of a nickel!
You might be wondering why we are willing to pay for the collection of these. Well, when they are left to sit on the grass, they eventually get pushed down into the soil making it harder for the grass to grow. So when the girls collect them off the grass, it helps us have a nicer lawn. And, it's a fun way to teach them that work will get them money!
Here is the latest collection of sweet gum balls, waiting to be cashed in! This is the second time they've done the collecting this year. About a month ago, they had over 300 sweet gum balls (they already got paid for that!). That was before they all came off the trees in a big wind storm.
The girls collected even more sweet gum balls the day after these pictures were taken, but we decided to wait until the following day to count them. The next day it rained. The days turned in to weeks, and after weeks of those sweet gum balls sitting out, spiders were making their homes in the bags. So.... laziness on the part of the mom (not making the girls go out and count their collections) also results in money! The girls each got $5.00 for their bags, which is definitely more than they earned, but I wanted to make sure I didn't short change them. After all, they did giggle and run all over the yard for a few minutes while I took pictures... that should be worth a $5 bill, right?
