So he has left.
My baby, my boy, has gone from being carried in a backpack… to wearing one.
He is doing World Challenge, which means he spends four weeks in India – in the hill country – trekking.
He does a community project at a local school.
And he gets a bit of R&R… maybe going to see the Taj Mahal.
He has his passport, his walking stick, some cash, my sleeping bag and some groovy “wilderness wear” clothes.
He is on an adventure and my heart goes with him.
My boy started his first job today. Yes. A proper job requiring a bank account, commitment and well… work.
He’s doing the paper round.
He’s being paid 10 cents a paper and delivering about 130 papers. He has 24 hours to deliver them. So far he’s done half and spent nearly two hours doing it.
You do the math. He’s not being paid much but he is being paid and not by me.
I’m so proud of him.
He’s still to work out the most efficient way of delivering papers. At the moment he has a satchel which can only carry about ten papers – and he’s on his bike – so he has to continually come back and forth to the paper depot – read house – to stock up.
But I have confidence he will.
So what has brought on all this industriousness?
Well he has the opportunity to go on a trip with World Challenge, a trip which will cost $7,000. That’s a lot of dough but fortunately (for us) the team at World Challenge believe that part of the challenge is to raise the money yourself – by working.
Oh and he wants to buy – and build – his own computer.
The paper round is a first step.
Can you remember your first job? I worked in Dad’s office for my first job – photocopying in the library. There was a tea lady who remembered what you liked to drink – in those days for me it was white tea with two sugars – and left a couple of biccies on your desk in the morning and in the afternoon.
Brilliant.
The other thing I remember is getting my pay in a little brown envelope – in cash – down to the cent.
It was SO satisfying.
I think kids miss out a bit on that these days with everything going electronically.
Mind you… it will be easier to save that $13!
