Funny how that works, isn't it?

Good morning!

So the Boy got his license this winter and has been a driving beast for the last several months.  The sticker shock of having a teen driver in the house does not end with the DOUBLING of car insurance.  No sir.  The bigger sticker shock is just how much GAS a kid can go through.

I've long said that my two children's biggest gift is to make friends with the kids who live geographically the farthest away from us possible.  In our neighborhood, we have no less than four of The Girl's classmates within two blocks.  Who's her best friend?  A girl that lives twenty miles away, and goes to a different school.

When the Boy started driving, I didn't think much of it.  Hey, he goes to a local high school, his friends are all local, right?

Then he put 600 miles on the car during spring break.

Did he go to Florida?  No.

No, apparently his best friend is a girl who lives...say it with me...20 miles away.  She uses school choice to go to his school. 

Well, with Summer vaca upon us, I did the math.  If he did 600 miles in a week..what could he do in ten weeks?

That's a lot of gas.

So the Husband and I laid down the law.  The Boy was on the hook for one tank of gas per month.  I envisioned three...June, July, and August.  But the Boy is no dummy.  (Don't let those second semester grades fool you!)  He pointed out, as I filled the tank the first week of June, that he was still in school and therefore it wasn't summer. 

After monkeying with his teen logic for two weeks I laid down a bigger law.  THE NEXT TANK OF GAS IS YOURS.

That was a week ago.  And he still has half a tank to go.  All of a sudden, the kid has learned about gas conservation.  Funny how that works, isn't it?  He's actually proud of the fact that he's outsmarted us and he will not be purchasing a tank of gas in June. He counts this as a win against us.

Well, it doesn't matter to me.  Let him feel like he's pulled one over on us.  I got him off his butt and on his bike and on his feet because walking and biking doesn't use gas.  So I count it as a win against him.

And that, if you are raising teens, is what we call a win/win situation!

Have a groovy sort of weekend everyone!