Teen Car Ownership ... a mini rant.

Why is it that teens today feel like they are OWED a car? They expect their parents to provide them with their own personal transportation? I only have one child, a son. He's one of those with of the mindset that he is OWED a car. We've tried to teach him differently.

When he was younger, he went through a stage where he wanted to quit everything he was involved in: baseball, soccer, playing the trumpet, boy scouts, etc. We tried to find ways to motivate him, but he's just difficult to motivate. We wouldn't let him quit trumpet (he has natural ability) or boy scouts. In order to keep him in scouts, we proposed the following, "Mommy and Daddy hope that when you turn 16, we're fortunate enough to be able to purchase a third vehicle. IF you were to make your Eagle Rank, the type of vehicle might be of YOUR choice. Otherwise, mom and dad will purchase a vehicle of our choice." This worked.

However, it took him so long to finish his Eagle, our circumstances changed. We needed to purchase a third vehicle long before he'd even thought about his project. We purchased an 11 year old, beat-up, small pick-up truck. It was relatively inexpensive. It was the family's third vehicle. Period. There was no $$ left for a fourth. We needed the truck to haul stuff while renovating the house we'd purchased. We gave him permission to drive the truck to/from school, scouts and work. Since he was driving it, we made him pay for the additional insurance (for a teen driver) and he needed to keep the tank relatively full. That's not to say his father wouldn't fill the tank when he drove it on a weekend. And his father showed him how to change the oil, so he takes care of that, too. Any other major repairs, tires, etc. are paid by us. It's still our vehicle... not his.

But the kid, still resents us. He's earned his Eagle Rank and he's p*ssed that he doesn't have a car of his own choice. He feels like we tricked him.

He just finished his first year in college. The college is 3 hours away. He lives in a dorm. We didn't let him take a vehicle to school. I needed mine. His father needed his. And we still needed the truck at home to work on the house. So he got pretty grumpy and depressed when he couldn't come home on the weekends when he wanted to. He hated asking around to bum a ride.

This summer, we are looking to replace the pick-up with a larger one. His father is planning on using it as his primary vehicle. So his car is going to be available for the son to take to college. Son is STILL looking at car advertisements; I don't understand. But he is driven by the fact that he feels like he needs his OWN vehicle. I think it's dumb. If you're given a vehicle to drive as you want, why would you want to go and spend your $$ on another vehicle???

We told him we're not helping him if that's what he wants to do. He'll need to get a better paying job. He'll have to purchase the vehicle. And insurance. And gas. And maintenance. And repairs. Once he buys a car of his OWN, it's all his responsibility. He wants it so bad, but I just don't think he's really ready; mentally or financially. Yet, he keeps looking.

Just a short note... Pet Friendly Lodging

I know! It's been WAY too long since my last post... and I'll get around to why in a few weeks, I suppose. But today I ran across something I just needed to share!

I've always been amazed at how you can wonder about something; so, you go to look it up on the web and you find something else of interest... so you follow along to that... then it leads to something else.

So, I was interested in Dog Agility Training. And before I found the information I was looking for, I was finding myself looking at schedules for the next Dog Agility Trials in my area (which just happen to be NEXT weekend!) Looking at the information for the trials, I found the place for my next Mountain Vacation. I want to bring Denali here: http://www.barkwells.com/

I can just picture it now, cool, crisp days with Denali romping across the mountainside, meeting "friends" along the way and introducing her to waterfalls and mountain paths! I'm usually more of a Beach person, but I'm thinking I REALLY want to try this place.