So we are three for three on acceptance and each offered scholarships. Sprat's first choice offered a little better deal and has many opportunities. He has decided on his first choice and so begins the filling out of all the paperwork. I have been looking at what a boy needs to pack for college, those lists are hard to find. What to pack and how to decorate for girls are all over the place. It is much harder to find lists for what boys might need for college. Sprat does not drink coffee per say, so he will not need a coffee maker. It seems I know more about what he will not need than what he will need.
We recently dealt with a dead battery in Sprat's car, I do declare that kids today do not know how to deal with adversity. Maybe it is just my kids, but I am pretty sure there are others dealing with this same thing. Some days I feel as though I have done too much for my kids, they have not struggled for things. I guess I should really thank my Dad for letting me drive a big ole piece a junk, that first car I drove left me stranded on more than one occasion and brace yourselves this was before cell phones...... I should preface this with the fact that the first vehicle I learned to drive was in fact a pick up truck, mine was a real truck. It was not some souped up, jacked up, big tired piece of junk you see girls driving these days. Mine was in fact my Dad's pick up truck. It was beat up but, it was mine to drive when I needed it and I was darn glad to have it. There were kids in my high school that drove a lot nicer cars than I did but my Dad taught me a really good lesson. You work and earn your own wheels if you want to drive anything nicer. The truck never let me down, the car I later drove did leave me on several occasions. I drove the truck until I learned how to drive a straight drive. I have to thank my Dad for that too, not many girls in my high school drove straight drives or even knew how. I unloaded all of this on you to tell you about the battery fiasco with Sprat.
Sprat came in one evening and mentioned right before he was going to bed that by the way, his car had been hard to start these last couple of days. The hubbs went out and he was able to start it. He said it was a little sluggish and that the next morning I should go out and listen to him start it so that I would know what to tell the guys at the shop. Well it is pretty easy to describe silence, yep you guessed it the little black berry would not start. With great hesitation and reluctance I gave my eighteen year old the keys to MY car. Ughhhhh, what was I thinking???? With glee in his eyes that I have not seen since he was probably eight years old Christmas morning, he took my car to school.
It was indeed time for a new battery. The way they put batteries in these cars these days are so crazy that the average person or even the Auto Zone cannot replace it. I had to go to my mechanic to get it replaced and they had to special order it from the dealership. Ughhhh. Finally at three o'clock I had the new battery and all was good with the black berry. I prayed that all would be as good with my car when Sprat got home with it. I got text from him periodically through the day how nice my car was and how great it drove, all I could think of was that song by the Beach Boys, "Fun, Fun, Fun" if you do not know the lyrics google them.
With this anecdote, I will share what I picked up to add to Sprat's packing list for college.
I bought him a kit that has jumper cables, gloves, bandages, and a head lamp to leave in his car. I have a first aid kit that I made up for each of us to have one in our cars, just in case.
This is my wisdom for today with regard to kids, especially boys getting ready to go off to college.
Stay tuned I am sure I will figure out what he will need in his dorm before it is too late.
