Life as I know it has increased its already breakneck pace to the point that the only way I can readily determine the days is by what activity I am driving to, whether it involves the kids, my wife, or occasionally me. It has seriously gotten to the point that when I do have time to sit down and write something I am exhausted beyond the point of my already flimsy mental coherence.
One of the best examples of the activities that keep me going is the picture to the left showing Darth Wiggles at her riding lesson. She goes twice a week relatively late in the afternoon and by the time we return home its straight to bed for her. The consolation for me is that she is absolutely in love with the horses and is taking her riding lessons very serious. I'm already having to remind her that there is no way on God's green earth we can afford to own one of those animals.
The good news for him is that Dragonwife and I are in the process of buying a minivan for her to drive which will allow Spoilboy to take over the Honda CRV. In all honesty I do not know which will be more expensive, paying for the insurance for him or buying Wiggles a hypothetical horse.
20 comments:
The cheapest thing about owning a horse is buying it. After that, it's all up hill - boarding bills, vet bills, show entry fees, etc. But it is such a good activity for kids and helps to keep them "balanced," especially when the opposite sex enters their lives. My oldest daughter came out of my womb riding a horse and to this day I attribute working and training with horses, and even those horse shows, with teaching her patience and good sportsmanship.
You might think about finding a horse to lease. Usually the owners take care of boarding and vet fees.
I'm sorry your son is having such a tough time finding a job but I hope he doesn't get completely discouraged to the point that he stops looking. Besides, if he finds one, he can even help pay for that auto insurance. ; )
Let me give you the teenager's point of view:
If you get him the car and pay for gas and insurance, he will be able to drive his sister to her activities, freeing you up to work all sorts of overtime, thus enabling you to pay for said car, gas, and insurance AND the horse.
Easy!
Oh - and happy birthday to him.
Your stuck between a rock and a hard place and also you'll be damned if you do and damned if you don't :-).
HBD, DSB!
You're getting in pretty deep, BB.
Hope there's a pony in there somewhere.
S
You crack me up with your children's names.
ah the good life!
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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.....and the parenting never stops! My kids are 27 and 25.
Miss 27 has her own house but we're running around doing everything because she's in the middle of eye-surgery. Mr25 has had to return to return to the 'nest' as he lost his job and had to give up tenancy of his shared house.
I retired at the beginning of the year and was just settling into a very relaxed (& mostly guilt-free) existence when I had to return to full-on parent mode.
I love my kids, don't get me wrong but after putting my life on hold to ensure they had the best chances of realising
their own dreams and potential I was ready for a bit of 'me' time.
I used to think Miss's return to health and Mr's return to the workforce (&return to independent living!) was the light at
the end of my tunnel - now I think it's just the express train
coming the other way!
Leslie: Wiggles has wanted to take riding lessons for years but its only now that we finally found a program for girls her age.
As for my son, he is not taking the lack of a job too hard right now. I keep telling him its tough right now, in fact I talked with one lady who was an office manager but is now working at a convenience store.
Pixel: Spoilboy does drive some right now but his girldfriend takes at lot of his time. In fact he spends a great deal of time over at her house, so much we keep asking her parents if we need to pay for the food he eats over there. They like him so they tell us not yet.
Windsmoke: AMEN! I'm always late for something it seems.
Suzan: Bite your tongue! Wiggles loves that pony she is riding in the picture and would try an sneak it home if it was anywhere near possible.
John: Yeah, I declared my son a Sith Lord years ago and had to give my daughter the same title recently.
Cloudia: Yeah, but it would be better if I lived in Key West.
Sue H. Yeah, I truly understand. It still bugs me a little that on my recent trip down to the coast It was like a duck out of water without one of my kids with me. Yeah, always a parent.
Haha! Sounds like you need some time out in OZ!!
Let me offer you this ray of hope: Eventually they will grow up and decide you're more trouble to live with than it's worth and just move out. Of course, there's usually a boyfriend/girlfirend somewhere behind the scenes prodding them, but that's OK. Then you'll get your house back and realize how deafeningly quiet two adults can be. It's wonderful.
Of course this is all contingent on you not going insane and being committed first. ;)
S
Agree with Parsley, the cheapest thing about owning a horse is buying it. I grew up with horses and the only thing it taught me was to avoid them. Pretty from a distance as long as someone else is paying for it.
Can't help with any advice for SpoilBoy. Hell, my wife's kid is now pushing nine years for a four year college degree in nothing.
My teen step-grandson in CA took two years to find a job and, when he did, it was really crappy. I feel so bad for teens these days; they are very sensitive to rejection and it's nearly impossible for them to find work right now.
Your parenting reminiscences take me back. There's good news in it, though. In hindsight, I realize that I was at my most psychologically healthy during those super-busy years because there was no time at all to obsess over my own thoughts and feelings. Can't hear yourself think? That might be all to the good, Dad.
I have to agree about horses and yachts. It is said about both that the happiest two days for owners are the day he buys the horse/yacht and the day he sells.
either way it's going to hurt the wallet!
Our youngest grandson has recently started having riding lessons and loves it.
Judging by how much insurance has gone up recently it would be cheaper to buy a horse than insure a car!!
And you thought having kids would be fun. I hope you've learned your lesson!
LOL..methinks that both endeavors will break the bank! Kids car insurance is mostly based on their school grades, at least in Cali they are..and horses have to eat daily..the cost of hay is getting higher by the day because of bad weather, etc.
So take your pick Bro.. ;-)
My wife said if I bought the kids cars they'd be out of the house all the time and I'd get a "little."
When does "little" start BB? I'm still waiting.
i dunno about the cost of owning a horse but i know that having a newly minted driver TRIPLED our car insurance. lord have mercy....
Red Nomad: I wish I could immigrate, I sometimes feel I belong there.
Low: I'm actually already worried about what it will be like when Spoilboy goes to college. He will be leaving me alone with two "Type A" woman. My sanity is already in question and with those two it will only get worse.
Mr. Charleston: I hear they say the samething about boats as horses. But I may need a boat to get away from my daughter and wife, like I mentioned above they are both "Type A."
Doc: I still want a sailboat.
Glen: Since it was always empty of money I gave up on carrying one. I keep my driver licence in the car.
Akelamalu: Same here, insurance is a scam.
Randal: They need to teach that fact in Sex ed, pregnancies would drop like a rock.
Dusty: Going with the car, Spoilboy's grades are pretty good. But boys still have higher rates.
Truth: LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't ask me, my sex life is so dead ghosts think its funny.
Lime: Spoilboy threw on an extra $75 bucks a month for us. Just enough for my wife to give him a choice between his cell phone and a car. The phone lost.
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