Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-34343471-20190105214134/@comment-35243530-20190107234745

You’re a good Mum Opal! I didn’t realize your son had autism and that changes things somewhat. But it sounds like you’re also preparing your son for the future, and doing an excellent job of it! So many people are what I think they call parachute parents these days - hovering and protecting their kids from the world - and would have jumped at the chance to reduce his workload. It sounds like you’re well grounded in reality and instead want to teach him the skills he will need to be an independent young man/adult. I don’t know where he falls on the scale and never having faced your challenges, I can’t pretend to know what they are or how to deal with them. As a single Mum with a low-life, lazy, worthless ex, mine were completely different (my wonderful hubby came into our lives on a full time basis about the time we made the move to the country and set a great example for my son, but there were a whole new set of challenges involved there too!). All I can say is that it sounds like you’re on the right path. And it sounds like your son is following your lead, since he’s talking about getting a summer job. But I’d still encourage you to spoil yourself a bit and be at least somewhat selfish with those gift cards, even if you do give some of them to him. You definitely deserve some things for yourself too, because you’re a good Mum!