When my sister-in-law came home for a vacation last year, she kept on complaining about how small our refrigerator is. The chocolates she brought home took almost all the space in the fridge. Meanwhile, the freezer hosts my breast milk stock and some fresh produce. Weekly, father-in-law goes to the wet market to buy our fresh produce.
When she left, the husband got finally convinced that we need a new refrigerator, a bigger one. Back then, I was only thinking of something bigger, perhaps a 9 cubic meter, two door, one. But we ended up buying a really huge refrigerator that it paved way for a small business, to maximize all the space it offers.
We sell 1.5L Coke and ice. The business has been going for months now. During its peak, the profit we make covers for our water and telephone bills. The profit is much smaller now since competition arose. But the good thing it did was, the girls became knowledgeable of how a selling business works. Both of them are very eager to answer the customer who is knocking by our gate. I was so shocked when I heard Maxyn, my youngest, say i-yan (ilan or how many), when she cannot even say her name properly! It was a great way to practice Alex, the eldest, in Math! Both of them know the concept of sukli (change). I find it really funny when both of them will race to the customer to get the payment and put it directly to the right canister. And mind you, we have two canisters, one for the Coke and another for the ice. They never make a mistake where to put the money. Bright kids.
Another happy moment for a stay-at-home-mom. I am so glad I am home to witness these events personally.
It’s also a good way of teaching them the value of money, that you have to work hard to have a lot of money.