Something we've been pushing William towards is to be a bit more independent. Baby steps. Chores to be done. Responsibilities. Going to the library by himself, or to the store on his own. They are big steps for him.
When we got the final piece of subfloor down, William was striding across the floor, trying to map it out in his head. "Where's my room going to be?"
Being a smarty, I pointed behind him. "Right there."
He was standing in the right front corner of the house, so he jumped over to the other side. "Right here?"
I pointed behind him once again. "Right there."
He looked at me, not understanding. I laughed and said, "We'll leave you in the camper."
He stared. "Really?"
Not realizing that he was taking me seriously, I continued on with my joke. "Sure. Why not? You can live over there, and we'll live over here. We can be neighbors."
He stared at me. "I'd get the whole trailer? I'd have my own kitchen, and my own livingroom, my own bathroom, my own bedroom? It would be all mine?"
It was my turn to stare. This certainly wasn't the direction I thought my joke would go.
William said, "I like that idea."
Tim said, "Why not? I never thought of it, but that would be nice for him."
Today it was raining again, and so we went up to the reservation to go to the Salamanca Antiques Mall. On the drive up, Tim said, "That's a really nice idea for the camper. I mean, we've got it. It's there, and we don't have any plans for it after the house is finished in a couple years. We can build a lean to off the side of the garage, and pull it there for him."
I guess the boy's a bit more independent than I gave him credit for. Grandma needs some pushing towards William being more independent, though.
Baby steps. Baby steps.
Sounds like an ideal set up for a teenage boy, from his point of view anyway. But wouldn't it be too cold in the winter?
ReplyDeleteNo. It has a furnace and A/C. But he IS still welcome in the house.
DeleteHe could just cross to your house for meals and laundry. I think he would enjoy his games a little too much and might forget his homework and housework.
ReplyDeleteI just know my grandsons at that age. William might be much more disciplined.
DeleteOh, he is most definitely not. He would not be independent. He would be supervised closely. This is not something that would be happening for a couple years anyway.
DeleteBut at least he can look forward to possibilities
DeleteInteresting idea, I wish I'd had some kind of set up like that before I went to university and was suddenly expected to be completely independent.
ReplyDeleteEvery boy's dream I would imagine.... his own private space. Every grandma's nightmare!!
ReplyDeleteIt's just kind of suprising to me that he'd be excited about this.
DeleteMaybe an occasional thing someday, perhaps on some summer nights.
ReplyDeleteThe camper sits a short 30 steps or so from the house site. Tim thinks he'll put an overhang on the side of the garage and just pull it over there and park it for him, when we're done using it.
DeleteI just love that idea. William is brilliant!
ReplyDeleteYou have time to get used to the idea! He'd have some independence but not be on his own.
ReplyDeletePondering it my head, I have to see it that way. He'd be learning what it takes to keep a house going, but he'd be a few steps away from the house. It's not a bad idea, but I guess that it wasn't something I expected him to jump on. He can practice being an adult.
DeleteI love this! My son Jon once bought his own camper, when he was 15. At this time he shared a room with his 3 brothers and wanted some space of his own. He didn't have it long; doing his own housekeeping wasn't something he had considered!
ReplyDeleteThat will be an interesting lesson for William, as well.
DeleteWow, that would be a DREAM for an adolescent boy, to have his own camper! I would have loved that at his age. But yeah, definitely something that will require some supervision!
ReplyDeleteHe would require a great deal of supervision, initially. I certainly hope that I've made it completely clear that this camper will actually be parked along side the garage, just 30 paces or so from the house, in our sight line and within earshot. It would be good practice at being an adult.
ReplyDeletePlenty of time for everything to change before a decision is taken.
ReplyDeleteI drove by Salamanca on our recent journey but could only think about the family surname from Breaking Bad.
ReplyDelete