Wish my first job was this cool

I think my first paying job was riding an ice cream bike around my hometown. My dad owned an ice cream truck and made deliveries to local stores. Somewhere he picked up an ice cream bike complete with an umbrella stand and twinkling bells. The large, square ice box sat on what essentially looked like a large backward tricycle. My older sister and brother where the first to experience the joys of self-employment and the freedom to ride a bike all day. I couldn't wait till it was my turn and at the tender age of 12 my legs had finally achieved the necessary length to reach the pedals. With the hot summer days and long hours, the job wasn't quite as glamorous as I had imagined and I was ready to explore other opportunities for the following summer. The part of the job I did enjoy was earning money and all the ice cream I could eat.

As my kids get older, they'll be looking for opportunities too. The bike is gone and well, I don't think I want them off by themselves at 12 years old. We have started an allowance system of earning money for jobs completed and putting half in their wallet and the other half into a savings account. Hopefully, by the time they are old enough for a job paying more than $2 a week, they'll have the discipline to save some of their earnings instead of eating it.

One day I came across a tweet. Verity Credit Union was looking for a mom with kids to appear in a commercial. That was a year ago and my daughter still brags about appearing in a commercial. To her, watching herself over and over and over again on TV superseded any amount of money earned. Though, she did like making money and her $100 portion seemed like a huge amount. So we talked about how many boxes of crayons and Barbies it could buy. But in the end, we decided to open a savings account until she could decide what to do with it. Going to the bank was another big adventure and I'm happy she wants to earn and save her money.