Category — Black Fatherhood

Mommy Bacchus was having a yard sale this past weekend and BJ was kind enough to give up many of his toys he no longer used. As a consolation, I agreed to set up a lemonade stand so he could raise funds to buy new ones, and below are things he learned while engaging in this entrepreneurial endeavor. Please keep in mind that BJ is in kindergarten.

You Need Customers and You Need Lemonade

Supply and Demand became very real to him. If I didn’t have another pitcher of lemonade waiting in the wings, he lost sales. So he asked me to always have a pitcher ready just in case he ran out.

Sometimes You Have to Ask for Business

How and when you ask, can determine if you make the sale. After about an hour I showed him how to wait until the customers walked close enough to the stand before asking. This was a problem because people were primarily stopping by the yard sale and he would scream at them as soon as they pulled up to the sidewalk. Ask nicely and you may receive a reward in return.

Money is a Tangible Thing

Making change became a real process other than completing a worksheet in school. He struggled with making change from a dollar most of the day (cup cost 25 cents), but finally saw the need to get it right. The big benefit was recognizing dines and nickels as being different from a quarter.

Check Your Product

We made a couple of practice pitchers before we got the right combination of Kool-Aid and sugar. We had fund testing it the night before. A bad batch could leave a bad taste in your mouth.

You Can’t Make Money if Your Not Available at Your Stand

After losing a couple of customers while playing with some friends in the yard, he was afraid to go to the bathroom without someone watching the stand for him.

The Wonders of Cross-Selling and Developing your Sale

After hearing me offer a free glass of lemonade to entice someone to buy some baby clothes, he starting doing it with some of his toys. He also heard me ask someone if they were thirsty and then suggest a glass of ice cold lemonade to satisfy that thirst.

A new toy fund is a great motivated for your kids, but I also found other ways to use a stand.

Take a Stand

Sunkist, with proud supporters Rubbermaid® and Domino®/C&H® Sugar, will soon be inviting kids 7 to 12 years old across America to Take a Stand® for their favorite charity. It’s a rewarding way to squeeze some fun into summer and give back to the community.

Last summer over 15,000 kids from every state in the U.S. and every province in Canada signed up to Take a Stand.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand

A unique foundation that evolved from a young cancer patient’s front yard lemonade stand to a nationwide fundraising movement to find a cure for pediatric cancer. Since Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004) set up her front yard stand at the age of four, more than $18 million has been raised towards fulfilling her dream of finding a cure for all children with cancer.

Overall, we had a blast and to top it off, he made $24.31. Just enough to get a new Pokemon DS game cartridge. I loved watching him act like a little business man and he was so excited about it. People liked what we were doing and the new toy fund got a great start. Watch out Donal Trump, BJ from Texas is on your tail…..

This is an interesting article discussing the portrayal of Black Fathers in advertising.

Fathers & Families Blog » Blog Archive » Black Fathers in the Media (Part II)

I have always had the belief that I was blessed with two sets of parents. My mother and father divorced when I was four, and I never experienced anything other than a non-traditional family setting. Both my parents re-married and I spent the school months with my mother and step-dad, and summer months with my dad and step mom. I loved and respected my step-parents just like any other member of my family.

My father passed-away 13 years ago and I have written posts describing past memories I have had. But this father’s day post is dedicated to my step-dad. I must admit that I gained a greater appreciation for my step-dad after witnessing the birth of my own son. Since my step-dad doesn’t have any biological children of his own, I often wondered how he could love me like I love my own BJ.

When my step-dad married my mother, he offered to adopt me as his own son. My father refused to agree and wanted to continue to be a part of my life. Regardless of any child support my father would have paid, I still spent the majority of my childhood at the home of my step-dad, and MY STEP-DAD NEVER COMPLAINED

• He never complained about money, bills or finances
• He never spoke badly of my bio-dad
• He never treated me any less than his own son.

What he did do was this:

• Taught me how to fight, have a back-bone and stand up for myself
• Showed up to my school events, concerts, and father/son dinners
• Watched and played sports with me
• Loved me like his own son
• Bottom-line-He was there for me

Now back to the question. How could my step-dad love me the way I love my own son? After a few years I finally found the answer; it didn’t matter. What matters is that he was the father-figure in my father’s absence. If I acted up, he straightened me out. If I needed a spanking, he got out the belt. If I stayed out late past curfew, he put me on punishment. My step-dad was/is/always will be a vital part of my development into manhood. So my hat’s off to you step-dad, and to all the step-dads that do the impossible.

It takes a HELL of a man to take another man’s seed, and grow it as his own.

It takes a HELL of a man to take another man’s seed, and grow it as his own.

It takes a HELL of a man to take another man’s seed, and grow it as his own.

Happy Father’s Day

A buddy of mine at work and I came up with this list of things to do last spring during bad weather. He has 3 and I only have 2, but it has helped a number of times for us. Most are local Dallas, TX activities, but I am positive that you can find something similar in your own area.

1. Children’s Museum (Most major cities have one dedicated to children)
2. Kids Wing of the major Art Museum
3. Aquarium
4. Movies (A no brainer, but we can get more creative than this)
5. Science Museum (Great adventure for kids)
6. Toys R US Jungle Gym (In the TX summer heat this is a must)
7. Merry Go Round at local mall (We have a couple of malls who have installed these)
8. Roller Skating
9. Bowling
10 Build A Bear (A chain found in malls, you can take all afternoon deciding on the many choices)
11. Paint N Party (Arts store where you can pick your piece, paint it and they fire it)
12. Chuckie Cheese
13. Main Event (Similiar to Chuckie Cheese or Dave & Busters)
14. Dave & Busters
15. Bookstore (Barnes & Noble or a half-priced one)
16. Library
17. Ice Cream

The key to this list is to have it handy because you never know when you are going to need it. If you have something to add, please comment.