When I was little, every summer my brother and I would beg our mother to let us have a lemonade stand. She would oblige and we would sit in the sun at a small, old card table with our Styrofoam cups and our not so ice-cold lemonade that we sold for ten cents a cup. That was 1979.
Our customers were our neighborhood friends. It wasn’t a big neighborhood, mostly just the kids on our block, and we probably spent as much money on supplies as we made for the ice cream truck but it was fun. It was the late 70’s and sitting outside in the sun with our lemonade was about as big of an invitation for our friends to saunter over into our front yard and stay awhile as we could think of. This was before the times of play dates and organized play, this is when if you wanted to have friends you had to actually speak to someone, be kind and earn their friendship. It was not expected, demanded or taken for granted. Friendship was what made summer worth having. I want that for my own girls.
Since my eldest daughter was about 3-years-old, she has always had a small lemonade stand with her little sister which they operated out of their backyard playhouse. They love helping me make the homemade Country Time lemonade and adding the ice and lemon slices for homemade authenticity. They’d open their little lemonade stand from the pass through window of their playhouse and make a sign charging their grandmother and I, $2 a cup (for the very lemonade that I had bought and made). Every year we’ve happily done this but this year, our first summer in our new house in a new neighborhood, the girls want to have a full-fledged lemonade stand in the front of the house. This time it is not to earn cash from their grandmother and I but rather as a way to meet the neighborhood kids, which makes me proud of my little girls because they are learning the value of a good friend; being one and having one.
Then I thought about it and, I don’t really know too many of the neighbors either so why not give the moms in the neighborhood a reason to stop by my yard, as well. I can’t serve wine or cocktails without a liquor license but I can serve iced coffee. I’m pretty sure that iced coffee would bring all the moms to my yard!
I mean, as a mom, what could make your morning better than an impromptu play date at the neighbor’s house while the mother’s sip on iced coffee and have spontaneous, easy conversation? I’m no barista but I’m sure that one of the seven International Delight Iced Coffee flavors; Vanilla, Mocha, Caramel Macchiato or Original Coffee Flavor or one of their light versions with 1/3 fewer calories would be a welcome addition to the morning routine.
So why not let your child have a lemonade stand? Add some International Delight iced coffee for the adults and let the good times roll.
For great ideas to make your own lemonade stand with your family visit internationaldelight.com/summer and share the fun on International Delight’s Facebook and Pinterest pages. I can’t wait to hear what kind of experience your family has and what kinds of unforgettable summer memories come of it. International Delight wants to help you this summer by giving away great prizes to their customers in their International Delight Summer Lemonade and Iced Coffee Stand: Fourth of July #IcedCoffeeLove Twitter Sweepstakes which runs from June 21st thru to July 2, 2013. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a Summer Cool Down pack with a cooler for ID, tumblers, and a $200 Visa gift card to visit the water park of their choice. Three runners up will receive free Iced Coffee. All you have to do is tweet about your experience with International Delight Iced Coffee. Simple, for example:
Why do you love @InDelight? Tell us using #IcedCoffeeLove and win prizes to help you stay cool this summer!
Whether it’s a lemonade or International Delight Iced Coffee stand, 1979 or 2013, it’s always been and will always be about making new friends and unforgettable memories.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.