The proud parent thread.

BIGWOODY said:
I've told my kids for years if they wanted a car I would match whatever they came up with and buy a car. Both of them asked many times "but pappa gave you a new car when you were 16?" I said that he did and a few more after I tore up the first one. I had no investment in the cars so I didn't really care too much about them. Earlier this year my 14 (at the time) daughter found a first gen MR2 that was super clean but had engine issues. We drove to the eastern shore of VA and bought it and she agreed to pay her half . The day she turned 15 (6/5) and was able to work she went to Yum Yums ice cream in Greensboro. She worked all summer between 40-52 hrs a week. I was shocked, she picked up everyones shift that didn't want to work. They were talking about making her a manager at 15. She goes back to school next week and this is her last week at Yum Yums. She's getting a job closer to home at a coffee shop when school starts back. I took her to work today and she made me stop by the bank, she walked out and handed me a stack of cash (her half of the car). I was beaming with pride as I had given her no time period in which to pay off the car. I asked her if she felt a little pride in doing things for herself, she said it felt good.
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THAT IS AWESOME! IN my best Chris Farley voice. Kudos to you and your girl!
 
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This bright arse purple Ruger Mark 22/45 Lite has been sitting at McDowell Pharmacy for... at least two years, if not three.

Every single time we go in, my daughter's wanted it.

I noticed Saturday it was marked down, and as my now 8 year old dragged me over to it for the second time, the owner offered me a screaming deal to take it off his hands. One I couldn't refuse. As he put it, it's been sitting there waiting on her.

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She was a happy kiddo.

Today, her Grandpa and I went to the Watauga Gun Club and let her get some trigger time in.

Video at link below:

She did fantastic. She listened, was safe, and accurate.

But tomorrow, she learns to clean it. šŸ˜‰
 
BIGWOODY said:
I've told my kids for years if they wanted a car I would match whatever they came up with and buy a car. Both of them asked many times "but pappa gave you a new car when you were 16?" I said that he did and a few more after I tore up the first one. I had no investment in the cars so I didn't really care too much about them. Earlier this year my 14 (at the time) daughter found a first gen MR2 that was super clean but had engine issues. We drove to the eastern shore of VA and bought it and she agreed to pay her half . The day she turned 15 (6/5) and was able to work she went to Yum Yums ice cream in Greensboro. She worked all summer between 40-52 hrs a week. I was shocked, she picked up everyones shift that didn't want to work. They were talking about making her a manager at 15. She goes back to school next week and this is her last week at Yum Yums. She's getting a job closer to home at a coffee shop when school starts back. I took her to work today and she made me stop by the bank, she walked out and handed me a stack of cash (her half of the car). I was beaming with pride as I had given her no time period in which to pay off the car. I asked her if she felt a little pride in doing things for herself, she said it felt good.
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Dang, now Iā€™m thinking yum yums for lunch lol šŸ˜‚ save that sandwich for tomorrow lol. Havenā€™t been in a long time
 
Dropped kiddo number one off at college for beginning of round two. Practically had to peal his mom and sister off of him. I may even miss him a tiny bit
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RatLabGuy said:
Dropped kiddo number one off at college for beginning of round two. Practically had to peal his mom and sister off of him. I may even miss him a tiny bit
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Kinda nice to a basic dorm room. So many posts I've seen lately , the parents have lavishly decorated the rooms and apartments and given the kids everything they could possibly ever want. Looks like y'all got the basics covered and that's all that.'s needed.
 
R Q said:
Kinda nice to a basic dorm room. So many posts I've seen lately , the parents have lavishly decorated the rooms and apartments and given the kids everything they could possibly ever want. Looks like y'all got the basics covered and that's all that.'s needed.
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I had 4 walls, a bed, and a fridge/microwave combo. Oh, and a room mate. It was as bare bones as it could be. I did add a rebel flag, just to spice things up at the HBCU lol.
 
R Q said:
Kinda nice to a basic dorm room. So many posts I've seen lately , the parents have lavishly decorated the rooms and apartments and given the kids everything they could possibly ever want. Looks like y'all got the basics covered and that's all that.'s needed.
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Yup pretty much. This year's dorm is way nicer ... Last year is was no AC, 120 sq ft, no dresser provided, a closet and desk that was fixed in place so you couldn't rearrange anything and only 1 outlet on each side. Oh and the showers were 1 giant old school locker room style, not even dividers. Hard to believe that even exists today.

This dorm has ac, bigger rooms, movable furniture and the private bathrooms w sink, toilet, shower and separate shared sinks and even one for washing dishes. It's striking there would be such a difference.

Jonas packed very spartan, only reason it didn't fit in his Kia Soul is bc he took a fridge and 3d printer. Hell we were about to leave when we asked if he'd packed long pants, "oh I guess may that's a good idea..." and ran in and grabbed some. Lol
Our opinion is it's his opportunity to learn how to live independently so it's up to him to learn from his choices

The fun part is both he and his roomie this year are high functioning ASD, both engineering, they met at a social event thing and hit it off. It's either gonna be really good or a complete train wreck of dropped responsibility. Fingers crossed!
 
BIGWOODY said:
I took her to work today and she made me stop by the bank, she walked out and handed me a stack of cash (her half of the car). I was beaming with pride as I had given her no time period in which to pay off the car. I asked her if she felt a little pride in doing things for herself, she said it felt good.
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I told my oldest the same thing. He turned 16 in March and got a job, saved up and payed me for his truck this summer.
 
I was talking with one of my son's teachers last night at the JV football game. She told me how good of a kid my son is. She said she always felt he was, but until she had him in class, she didn't know for herself.

Turns out he was taking up for a kid that's in his class. He confronted the shit head and made the nonsense stop. We always told him he will never be in trouble at our house, if he gets in trouble defending from a bully.
 
R Q said:
Kinda nice to a basic dorm room. So many posts I've seen lately , the parents have lavishly decorated the rooms and apartments and given the kids everything they could possibly ever want. Looks like y'all got the basics covered and that's all that.'s needed.
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I was thinking the exact same thing! damn near a cinder block prison cell. As it should be. It's a little humbling for a lot of these little shits that need it.
 
Had our first parent/teacher conference yesterday for 1st grade and her teacher told us that our daughter is perfect and is above average and that she is her biggest helper and that we should be very proud. So as we were leaving, I was just grinning ear to ear and a little emotional because I wonder EVERYDAY if I am doing a good job as a parent and beat myself up constantly and always hope I am always pushing my daughter forward and never holding her back for the sake of me or my wife and it just felt so good to get that reassurance that we are doing ok. Definitely one of my proudest moments so far!
 
As Iā€™m getting my stuff together for work, I hear my wife yell, ā€œstop farting on the dogā€. My son is hell on our dog. They aggravate the piss out of each other. My dog gives it back pretty good. My son has a few shirts that look like Swiss cheese from their wrestling matches. The dog weighs 85 pounds and my son is nearing 50 pounds. He gets his butt kicked.
 
I canā€™t explain the flood of emotions this picture encapsulates.

Over a fire and a drink I can explain the why - but for here - just know this pic brings a tear to my heart.

In short when I went to college I was ridiculed and told I was wasting time and money. That I wasnā€™t ā€œcut out for collegeā€

ā€˜I changed the gameā€™ - and my family tree in the process.

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