I once read an article about a man that turned a red paperclip into a house. He simply traded up over and over until the things he was trading were more and more valuable. He traded 14 times, the last time for a house. As I sit here today looking at my 10 loads of laundry and messy kitchen, it occurred to me that this is not how I pictured my life, but especially not the way I wanted my kids to live. Now I completely get I can get off my lazy ass and clean instead of blog, but as I was pondering this, I got an idea and I wanted to share it.
The other day I had a friend over and I told him he needed to turn a penny into an awesome present for me. Well what if my kids were able to complete their own dreams with just a penny? I know it's a radical concept. A penny is pretty much like the white crayon of money. It is rarely useful, and quite honestly I have heard myself tell my kids several times that I don't want their pennies because they are useless.
Tonight, I am going to flip that concept on it's head. I am going to give each of my kids a penny and tell them that they are responsible to turn it into their dreams. I, on the other hand, are going to use a white crayon. I am going to encourage them to trade it up. They can use ebay, craigslist, gofundme, or any other means possible to change their penny into something that they never thought it could be.
I want a house. Not just a little house, but a nice 4 bedroom around where we live now so our kids don't have to switch schools. I am going to get it by trading up a white crayon on various websites until I get one. I could work hard 3 jobs and not raise my own children like most people in America do now, but that doesn't prove anything about accomplishing the near impossible to my children.
I will be blogging about this along the way. I will be sharing the small accomplishments and the big ones.
If I get enough amazing stories along the way, I will write a book about it. That is my other dream. I want to be a published author and dedicate my book to the reasons I have dreams. My kids deserve more and I want them to see that they don't have to settle because of circumstances.
Christopher would like an xbox, the newest version with every game to play on his large 3d flat-screen tv from his gaming chair.
Manda wants a bunny and to join 4-H rabbit club. She also wants her own smart phone with a data plan.
Sydney wants to become a level 10 gymnast and one day teach gymnasts. She wants a room filled with trophies and all the equipment necessary to practice everything.
Skye wants a laptop computer with internet. She also wants make-up and would love to pay for her own gymnasts class to free up some money for other things.
Austin is almost 3. I doubt he really understands this, but I know that cats reduce his stress and seizures. I think he would love to get a cat. His cat needs litter and food and shots.
Tonight I am going sit down with them and help them each come up with an individual plan to help them accomplish their dreams. I will provide links to these things in later blogs.
