If You Ain't Got the Dough Rey Mi

There were lots of ways for Woodsdale Kids to make money. We charged for entrance to our circus in the backyard, our zoo in the basement, and yes a lemonade stand or two. Boys had it easy, they could deliver papers or paint house numbers on the curbs. All of us could collect bottles and return them to the store for a deposit...the hedge along Bethany Pike at the Woods Run Park held treasures of bottles.
My brother Mike made his money by challenging kids to bet on pool games in my grandfather's attic or with his soft dirt factory.
There was no such thing as an allowance in our family so if you didn't earn the money, you didn't have any. My grandfather would pay for weeding his yard. Some in the neighborhood were foolish enough to pay my little brother to haul away their Xmas tree.....(when the city did it for free).
But the best way to earn money for summer swimming at Oglebay, or ice skating at Wheeling Park was babysitting. I was really lucky...because I was so tall for my age, mothers assumed I was also mature enough to handle their kids. I had some regulars I really adored and then some casuals as well. Small families were good, but because I came from a family of nine, mothers assumed I could handle their large broods easily. The Cochran's on Maple had lots of kids...to this day I can still remember most of their names...Brenda, Beverly, Barbara, Berry, etc. Good kids. I'm told that when all six of the girls in my family grew up and moved away, my mother took over our accounts as babysitter...I think she really missed being aroud little children. I have talked to some of those kids for whom my mom babysat, and yes, they all learned to spell using Spill and Spell or Boggle and they all learned to count using dominoes. My mother was magic when it came to teaching little kids.
Babysitting money paid for my clothes, entertainment, gifts for family, and extras for many years. When I turned 15 Mr. Goddard got me a job at Oglebay checking baskets at the pool. Now that was good money. I worked a half day and swam at the pool the rest of the day AND had free use of everything in the park.
Later, I transferred to the tennis courts. The only bad part was, that I didn't have a car, and didn't always have a way home so would have to walk the 3 and 1/2 miles to my house down the back road (Waddles Run Rd) It could get pretty scary when it got dark. But it was worth it! For 50 cents an hour, I had fun, made a fortune and met lots of new people.