Okay...who wants to celebrate with me?

[reyd reid reed]

Two and a half years ago, my oldest child tried to fly a car.

Sadly, it didn't work and he....ummmmm...broke a tree with it. He also broke the car and shattered his leg. This failed experiment resulted in the loss of his job...and his apartment.

He boomeranged and has been bouncing around under my feet ever since.

Don't get me wrong. I love my boy to death. And, at the rate we were going, I was convinced that's how it was going to end. In death. Either his or mine.

He's been looking for a place for months now, with no luck.

He just got lucky.

Day after tomorrow he's packing up his stuff...and his girlfriend...and moving into his new apartment.


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[IronLionZion]

1. congrats!

yeah, great to hear it's working out now. A bad car accident is probably my biggest fear in life.

Have a drink on me. :toast: just don't drive tonight.

[reyd reid reed]

5. I learned that lesson long ago

Now he's learned it...

He's back to normal now...whatever That is....

[Dangerously Amused]

2. Isn't it funny how the older they get, the smarter you get?

:eyes:


But seriously, good job with him! Bless your heart for your patience and forgiveness. And yes, now go take a well deserved day of celebration.


:7

[reyd reid reed]

7. Innit, though?

Amazing...

One day, maybe he'll actually admit....nah....

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear reyd reid reed!

Time to party indeed! Good for you, holding on for this length of time!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[reyd reid reed]

8. Well...the best part about holding on

Is the letting go...

Saturday...


:woohoo: :woohoo:

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. He doesn't deserve you

Kid who can't fly a car doesn't deserve much of anything. :eyes:

Did he learn nothing from the Dukes of Hazzard?

[reyd reid reed]

10. Y'know....

I've been telling him that for 22 years now.

You'd think he'd have learned it by now, wouldn'tcha? When he was in school, he knew he didn't...wouldn't bring his friends around or anything...

And this kid? Mr. Cool actually watch Dukes of Hazzard?

Surely you jest...

(except for outta the corner of his eye...them Daisy Dukes do have a certain appeal at his age, y'know)

[u4ic]

6. My first thought was...

you don't look old enough to have a child of that age!

I'm happy for you!! :toast:

I hope he gets his life straightened out... :hi:

[reyd reid reed]

11. I think you just became my new bestest friend

:rofl:

He was doing so well up until this happened...I think it was a case of 'oh, shit, you mean human frailty actually applies to ME?'

He's learned that yes, indeed it does.

I'm thinking that he's finally back on track. Got all his fines and court costs and all that happy crap paid off...now he can concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. You got a kid who can't fly a car

and you expect him to walk correctly?

Cripes... moms. :eyes:

[reyd reid reed]

14. Well, the thing is,

We've been working on the walking thing longer. The driving issue's more recent. And I'm thinking that maybe he watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang once to often when he was little?

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. So he thinks he's Dick Van Dyke?

Who's the physical-comedy equivalent of John Cleese?

I repeat:

[reyd reid reed]

17. Well, he's skinny enough to be Dick Van Dyke

And he's got a titanium tibula now to attest to his grace and lithesome nature.

I figure, if he goes slow and CONCENTRATES, he should be able to go from point 'a' to point 'b' without wreaking TOO much havoc.

Y'know what's REALLY scary?

He's driving again....

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. As long as that's *all* he's doing

he oughta be okay. :thumbsup:

[reyd reid reed]

20. I figure

as long as we keep the chewing gum away from him, we stand a chance.

It's that multi-tasking that causes problems, y'know....

[Oeditpus Rex]

23. Yup

I've said that many, many times about some people.

"He can't fly a car and chew gum at the same time."

[u4ic]

16. Teens are immortal, perfect

and know it all.

You don't know this by now? :rofl:

[reyd reid reed]

19. Yup....

It's the 'know it all' part that makes me wanna just....just....

:rofl:

I had one of my kids tell me once...with a perfectly straight face, mind you...that teenagers (he was 17 at the time) are the best and safest drivers on the road.

It took everything I had not to spew coffee all over the windshield and drive off the road, much less keep a straight face of my own and wait out his reasoning.

[Dangerously Amused]

21. Best and safest drivers on the road, eh?

Yeah, I reckon that's why their insurance rates are the highest, too. Penalize good drivers, I say!


:eyes:

[reyd reid reed]

22. Oh, he had given it some thought

Well...as best he was capable of thinking in that dazed, hormone-riddled brain, seventeen-year-old brain.

I wrote it down...it's at home though (and I'm not).

[reyd reid reed]

24. Now I'm at home...

Hide the Keys…It’s a TEENAGER!!




Put down your coffee cup, swallow that sip of juice. Sit down and brace yourself, I’ve got news that’s going to knock your socks off.

The best drivers on the road, bar none, are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one.

How do I know this to be true? Not from statistics compiled by the insurance companies or the police department, not from actuarial tables, either. I got it straight from the source.

My teenaged son told me.

With a straight face.

Really.

We must, of course, consider that source. This is a young man who anxiously awaits foul weather and slippery streets because it’s more fun to ride his bike at breakneck speeds on ice.

“But a bicycle isn’t a car,” he insists.

He’s right, it isn’t. In a car at least there’s something between a human body and the street. At this rate we’re looking to corner the market on Neosporin and hydrogen peroxide, not to mention getting to know the emergency room personnel on a first name basis before the end of the year.

This is also the young man who scared ten years off my life when he tried to make a right turn at close to 35 mph. That’ll teach me to let him drive to work. But he’s a teenager with quick reflexes so it couldn’t have been his fault. It must have been the brakes. It might have been the speedometer. It could have been that I was making him nervous when I suggested – rather vehemently – that if he didn’t slow down he’d never make the turn. He’s a teen; he’s a good driver. But still – curbs are incredibly unyielding and I suspect that we paid a semester of tuition for our mechanic’s oldest child. The front end still creaks like a pair of arthritic knees.

Think he was done? Oh, no. This is the same young adult who backed out of the driveway to park on the street and didn’t see the fencepost. After ten years of jumping over it, climbing on it, leaning against it and sitting on it, he didn’t realize it was there. It isn’t anymore. But he’s a new driver and, as such, is a wonderful driver. Who needs a fence anyway? The missing fence gives the yard a much more ‘open’ and ‘spacious’ feel…doesn’t it?

Yes, he’s got all the answers. He told me so.

With a straight face.

But – I’ve got the keys. And I’m hiding them. And then I think I might just keep my middle-aged, conservative, seat belt wearing self at home indefinitely.

It’s safer that way.

Really.

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. You are one very patient parent!

Congrats! :bounce:

Time to :party:

[reyd reid reed]

12. Well...the way I see it, I had a choice...

Patience or prison.

Some days prison actually doesn't sound too bad (hey, at least there I wouldn't have to play chauffeur and drive kids to school at 6:30 in the morning) but...in the long run...

Patience won out.

Party time!!

(Now if the rest of 'em would just get old enough to go off to college or something...)

[Jazz2006]

25. Your son is very lucky...

despite the failed "carplane" experiment and the busted tree and leg, that all has turned out (eventually) and he has a parent like you!

Best of luck to him, and kudos to you!

:) :) :) :) :)

[reyd reid reed]

28. The other good thing that came of all this

Is that he unintentionally turned into an object lesson for his younger brothers and his sister:

Planes fly. Birds fly. Cars...not so much.

[Jazz2006]

31. Excellent result, that.

:)

[bigwillq]

26. WOO HOO!

Good for him!

:hug:

[reyd reid reed]

29. Woo hoo

is right...I cried when he moved out the first time...I'm thinking that this time, loving and supportive parent that I am, I might just go downstairs and help him pack...

[In_The_Wind]

27. I'll celebrate with you!

[reyd reid reed]

30. YAY!

The more the merrier.

:grouphug:

[miss_american_pie]

32. That is something to celebrate

:toast:

[reyd reid reed]

33. Ain't it, though?

Plus, I'm easily amused...comes from spending so many years speaking in three-word sentences and everything. I've gotta take my celebrations when I can, and be grateful.

At one time, it was going a whole day without an 'accident'. And flying cars didn't factor into those...