Scott L wrote:
I think I asked this last year, too, so curious me will ask this
year. What's everyone doing with their kids this summer?

13 is a tough age for this. Henry relishes his freedom and school
years are so stressful for all of us (he struggle with organization,
etc as he is ADD and it can be a nightmare to ensure homework is
completed, etc) that we all appreciate a break. He's a night owl so he
sleeps until noon or later -- I am home by 3:30. I have challenged him
to find one class/activity to do by next week or I'll find it for him.

He has responsibilities around the house that he doesn't have during
the school year, and we are significantly increasing his allowance.
This actually SAVES us money because then he has to budget movies,
going out with friends to restaurants, etc., rather than 5 and
10-dollaring us to death. We are hoping it will teach him
responsibility with money.

Last week was the first week on the money plan -- we had a "Leave it to
Beaver" moment. Henry got his first mega-allowance Friday morning and
by 3 p.m. when I got home, he had walked to a pet store and purchased
two gerbils. He had enough money for gerbils, food and bedding, but
not a cage, so his plan was to keep them in a cardboard box (yikes!)
for a week until he could afford the cage.

Since he did not have permission to purchase pets and we already have
three dogs, we required him to return them. I called ahead and spoke
with the manager, who, after I suggested it was irresponsible for them
to sell pets to a 13 year old without parental permission/involvement,
agreed to refund his money. So -- I told Henry that the store would
give the money back, but that Henry could only have the money back if
he personally returned the gerbils. We sat in the parking lot for 20
minutes while he tried to decide whether his pride would win out over
the cash. The cash won. I felt like I was in a sitcom.

Turns out Henry had an entreprenurial plan: The gerbils cost $13 each
and he purchased (yikes again) a male and a female. He figured he
could sell the babies for $1 or $2 each to friends and he'd be in the
the black by mid-July.

Sometimes it feels like we're living in a Leave It To Beaver episode.

-Dawn
Mom to Henry, 13