Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Teenage Drivers - Hug your kids

I set our dodge power wagon on fire

Thought mom was gonna put a cig out on my forearm

She said my arms and hands were already burned up enough trying to get it put out

Life as a father of little ones is amazing. As a father of teenagers it has been more than a little hard on the system.

It was fun thinking back on all the crap I survived somehow, till I realized that’s what they are doing now.

Sounds like your boy has his head screwed on right. Somethings a guy just has to live to to learn not to do it again.

Mother of one of my boy’s best friends That rolled his car last year checked in with us and made the statement raising teenagers isn’t for the weak. True words.

Yup. Hell of a lesson he’ll likely not forget.

Glad are all ok. The rest is just stuff.

Glad to hear your kids and all involved are okay. Can be scary stuff for sure.

Tarkio,
As the father of a 19 year old girl, a 17 year old boy, and another 15 year old boy (soon to be 16), I completely understand the situation. I think you are approaching things the correct way. Obviously, the boy needs to understand the gravity of the situation (which it sounds like he does) and he also has to pay the consequences, which, in my view, would be helping to pay for the new car for his sister. I'm sure I would come up with inventive ways for him to work it off, too. The fact that he knows you love him and that he called you right away shows that he trusts you, which is huge at this age.

Funny thing about stuff like this, my wife and kids all freak out when something like this happens to us, especially with cars. I'm usually the guy talking them down off the ledge telling them it's no big deal, i.e. no one was physically hurt, we can replace the "things", etc. I started thinking about why I react this way when I read your post and I realized that it is because of all the crazy sh*t I did when I was a teenager. The fact that I survived is amazing, but I also tried to learn from what I did so that I never put myself in the same position twice. I remember when friends of mine were killed in car accidents or in other ways through carelessness and those things stick with you. Kids don't realize how easily they can be taken out of this world and it's our job to make them see the fact of the matter. It's quite a sobering thing once you realize that.

Car accidents and teenagers go together like peas and carrots.

And like hookers and blow.