lesson learned

"how can i earn extra money?"  liam asked me a few weeks ago.  he's under some sort of delusion that if he accumulates enough cash, he can purchase an ipod touch, which can go for well over $100 even used.  i've tried to explain to him that chris and i are not interested in him owning an ipod touch but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.  and really, who am i to squash his entrepreneurial spirit?

he brainstormed ideas: mowing grass, walking dogs, babysitting.  but he's just not quite old enough for any of them, at least by himself.  and then it hit me -- he could help out with yardwork.  we had returned from the beach to find our lawn strewn with branches and limbs and pinecones galore, courtesy of some fairly major storms that had blown through while we were away.

"i will pay you to pick up pinecones," i told him.

he perked up.  "how much?"

i debated whether i should compensate him with an hourly rate, but knowing how he can get distracted and drop whatever he's doing for something more enticing, i decided that it made more sense to pay him for the finished product.  "tell you what.  i'll give you three cents per pinecone."

he mulled it over.  "deal," he finally said, and we shook on it.

he ventured out to the backyard with chris's enormous workgloves on his small hands, since those pinecones can be prickly.  and to be honest, i kind of forgot about him.  i was still busy unpacking and figured that he had likely dropped the gloves and climbed into the hammock or started kicking his soccer ball or practicing his golf swing.

but about an hour later, he burst into the house, a triumphant look on his face.  "mommy!" he yelled.  "i'm finished!  and you owe me $19.50!"

i looked at him.  "honey, there's no way i owe you $19.50.  surely you've done your math incorrectly."

"oh yes you do!  i multiplied 3 cents by 600 and got $18.00, and then multiplied 3 cents by 50, which is $1.50.  and $18.00 plus $1.50 makes $19.50."

for a moment i paused to appreciate the distributive property at work -- as only a geeky math teacher would -- but then i regained my senses.  "you're telling me that you collected six hundred and fifty pinecones?" i asked incredulously.

"yep," he replied.  "come see!"

and sure enough, he had filled three huge bins and most of a wheelbarrow.  i didn't bother to count, but looking at his earnest face, i trusted the total.  but 650?  how was that possible?  it was then i realized that he had expanded his work area to include the woods that surround our backyard -- not exactly what i had in mind, but unfortunately, i had set no boundaries.

i had no choice to pay up.  we had shaken on the deal, which of course is a binding contract with a seven-year old.  i reluctantly retrieved my wallet.

"but just so you know," i said, as i handed him a twenty and told him to keep the change, "i'm adjusting this rate in the future.  you're going to run me out of house and home."

(and yard, come to think of it.)

a mere portion of his haul