Winding Path

We’re just returning from a supporting-family trip. On the way to the airport, Cameron mentioned that he’d changed his start date at Colorado University: Colorado Springs to fall 2022 (about eight weeks away).

Start date? “IDK”
Housing? “IDK”
Accounting classes available (since he completed everything GenEd while getting his Associates of Science degree)? “IDK”

The last few months, after his seasonal work at H&R Block ended, have been interesting. He said he wanted a job and he said he wanted to go back to get a four year degree starting in Spring 2023.

What we saw was an average of about a half hour a day of minimal effort and lots of video games and, interestingly, a serious decline in his agreeability as a roommate. He had loved coming home from H&R Block and sharing about his day. His chores were completed with a smile and his personal interactions were markedly more friendly. He was not able/willing to see (nor address) the change. After eight weeks of failed efforts, only an ultimatum of paying rent when we got back from vacation got him moving on the goals he says he wants.

Baffling. There’s no parenting-this-person how-to book. Trial and error sucks sometimes! 

So, we’ll land back in Denver soon. He’ll start work at Subway tomorrow. What will happen next… I have no idea. Finding the just-right supports for our brilliant, quirky, 2e, eighteen-year-old son is anything but a straightforward path. He’s already an amazing person and I’m looking forward to meeting the person he chooses to become when he needs less parenting support. Right now, the winding growth-path still messes with my equanimity while my husband and I continue to do our best to help❤️