Actually, two out of three are no longer teenagers. But even Joe College Grad appears to be in that limbo between student behavior and adulthood that apparently plagues Italian male children until about age 40. Example: the lad has a voucher for up to $500 for a Continental/Northwest ticket. He wanted to use it to come home for his winter break. He couldn't figure out how to get it to work. Between his girlfriend and me, we got it done. And he was a Phi Beta Kappa....
Joe College refuses to take money in the form of an established allowance for his living expenses, i.e., rent, food, etc. He prefers to ask as the need arises. When I point out that if he were living in a dormitory, I would be paying this and more, he rolls his eyes. But when he shows up for dinner, I know that there will be an indirect request for a check before leaving. My goal is to get him to take a pre-determined amount of money and either save it or spend it. If it's gone before the end of the month, so be it. My recollection is that OLGS was very similar with his dad. I, on the other hand, have little problem taking money...
Joe High School is in some ways the most grown up. Is there an inverse relationship between age and behavior in teenage boys? As a 10th greader, he is getting recruiting letters from various colleges and universities as the result of a test he took. He was very dismissive until he got letters from the University of Chicago, Duke, and Washington University in St. Louis. It was nice to see him figure out that there was a relationship between his performance on the test and the receipt of the letters. Input equals output...
Actually, two out of three are no longer teenagers. But even Joe College Grad appears to be in that limbo between student behavior and adulthood that apparently plagues Italian male children until about age 40. Example: the lad has a voucher for up to $500 for a Continental/Northwest ticket. He wanted to use it to come home for his winter break. He couldn't figure out how to get it to work. Between his girlfriend and me, we got it done. And he was a Phi Beta Kappa....
Joe College refuses to take money in the form of an established allowance for his living expenses, i.e., rent, food, etc. He prefers to ask as the need arises. When I point out that if he were living in a dormitory, I would be paying this and more, he rolls his eyes. But when he shows up for dinner, I know that there will be an indirect request for a check before leaving. My goal is to get him to take a pre-determined amount of money and either save it or spend it. If it's gone before the end of the month, so be it. My recollection is that OLGS was very similar with his dad. I, on the other hand, have little problem taking money...
Joe High School is in some ways the most grown up. Is there an inverse relationship between age and behavior in teenage boys? As a 10th greader, he is getting recruiting letters from various colleges and universities as the result of a test he took. He was very dismissive until he got letters from the University of Chicago, Duke, and Washington University in St. Louis. It was nice to see him figure out that there was a relationship between his performance on the test and the receipt of the letters. Input equals output...
1 comment:
OK, I've always admired how you both brought up your boys. My oldest is leaving for Italy on spring break with his Latin III class (it took me 50 years to get there myself; he gets to go at age 17!) - I'm both delighted and suffering, suffering because I know that he will forget everything he needs to take with him, but delighted because I have a sneaking suspicion that he will have a wonderful time.
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