Growing Up My Shawnny Bo Bonnie

Haven't seen much of my boy lately. He's been working double shifts at a restaurant owned by the father of a former girlfriend, about 33 miles away. I'm not sure what he is doing, really, from what he tells me he's mostly delivering pizzas but helps out in other areas of work, too.

His car is oh so not okay to make that trek each day, PLUS deliver pizzas. Even Paul admitted it is sounding like it's in the middle of it's death rattle when it is started. So the cute little sea green rusty 93 VW Golf is sitting in the woods.

This presents the problem of transportation for Sean so he can be gainfully employed and start his forward progress toward self sufficiency. So he has been using my car. My quasi new car. My quasi CLEAN car.

I peeked in it this morning. Holy shit. Um, what's the Fabreeze for??

I told him if he didn't have a car, he couldn't be working 33 miles away - he MUST seek closer employment. He agreed and gave his notice, which should be effective by the end of this weekend.

Paul and I also decided that of course he needed a car. His was probably beyond sinking any more money into. I don't think the truck will hold up long with such consistent usage, and I did not spend all that money on my new car so Sean could have it??

What to do, what to do. Paul, being the clever problem solver that he is offered up this solution - we would set aside the remaining child support payments until Sean is 18. Sean would save every penny he could while he is working. We would take all that in a few months, add a little of our own money to the pot, and get Sean a new car.

Sean was all for it. Since the beginning of this week, I have found a pile of dollars on the counter each morning. He comes home after I'm in bed, and leaves his tips on the counter for me to put away. He's got $350 saved so far, with a couple more weekend days to go, another couple hundred, probably. Not bad. Especially for him. He's working a lot of hours, and when you calculate number of hours its not so much per hour, but it's not like he has anything else better to do, and its good for him. Seems to be keeping him out of trouble, and Builds Character working 12-14 hour shifts. He is now learning what it feels like to work for something.

My baby boy will be 18 in a few months. Although the divorce decree between his sperm donor and I says that child support payments will continue after the age of 18 as long as Sean is in school, this said sperm donor declared to me some many months ago that he actually is not legally bound to continue payments after Sean reaches 18. Because he cares that way...

Hmmph. Lets not go down that path...

Sean is determined to register for school. There are three goals that he is working toward -

1. Getting a new car.
2. Getting registered for school.
3. Getting a job.

He seems to be making progress. He seems happy. He is testing his limits. He is learning how to negotiate the adult world. I am very proud of him today. My worries concerning him are now the rather normal worries that most parents have for their young adult children. Will he be safe driving on the fourth of July holiday weekend? Will he be too tired to drive almost an hour home after a 13 hour shift? Is he eating okay? It used to be I worried about what he was getting into, and with whom, because he had too much disposable time on his hands, and a vivid imagination coupled with inherent laziness...sort of your typical schemer. But so far, so good...lots of hope for him in this old heart today. Its awfully refreshing.

I'm still ducking for that other shoe, though.



Peace