I may have created a monster.  This is how:

Stepson 2 applied for summer and weekend jobs after finishing his GCSEs.

If you are of a similar midlife age to me and don’t have teenagers in your life, let me tell you:  Getting a part time job as a kid these days is not the same as it was in ours.  If you get to the stage after your application form, but before an interview (yes, it’s practically as complicated as getting on a corporate graduate scheme 30 years ago), you have to answer an online ‘what would you do in this scenario?’ set of questions, which it seems has a very, very high pass rate.  And that is to work the shop floor at Co-Op…

So with all that, plus the competition from his peers and the returning university students, combined with the fact that he is 16 and these days there are all sorts of restrictions on the hours a 16 year old can work, it is perhaps unsurprising that Stepson 2 did not secure a job.

Unfortunately, this did give him time to secure a new girlfriend, and summer holiday dates require money, so he asked if there were any opportunities for paid work here….and spent last week painting our fence.

Now, I am a bit of a clean freak.  I do not like smelling and I do not like being around others who smell.  And I have the nose of a blood hound.  In the seven months Stepson 2 lived with us, I seem to have made him my protege, insisting that anything touching pits, bits or feet MUST be put in the wash basket at the end of the day, as must anything containing sweat.  As all three of us do some sort of exercise every day that meant I had three gym kits and three sets of clothes across wash baskets – a full load each day.  Stepson 2  got used to a fast turnaround time from wash basket to folded on his bed.

Last Monday he finished painting at 3.30pm.  I asked where he’d put his painting clothes.

‘In the wash basket’ he replied.  I asked when he was coming back to paint next.

‘8.30am tomorrow morning’, he said.

He seemed genuinely surprised that I wasn’t actually planning on washing his one t shirt and one pair or trousers before then…

And I can only assume that its the worry of making his t-shirt sweaty that resulted in this:

I went down the garden, where he’d moved the paint and brushes half an hour ago to start on the next area, to find him having a rest.  Which would be totally reasonable, had he not just finished a 30 minutes break to eat lunch followed by a 45 minute ‘proper break’….

It’s just so he didn’t get too sweaty though, right? 😉

And part of me applauds that.  And I (repeatedly) applauded the work he has done, and I  provided food, snacks and drinks and I washed his t-shirt and trousers twice in the 5 days he worked.

And I’m stunned to say that once we had reminded him of the terms (flat rate fees and payment on completion), he pulled it out the bag and did a great job.  And he had a shower straight after finishing each day, before he went to the gym 🤷‍♀️.  And I think that’s pretty good going…

So I might have created a monster, but at least he’s not a stinky monster. 😁