When the kids turned 18 they all knew we had one rule: go to school or get a job and pay rent.
- Either that, or find a place of your own.
Our oldest son went to the university and got a degree in marketing. When the youngest turned 18 he said he wanted to go to trade school. We had to talk about it before deciding if that counted as “school” or not. At first the wife and I were leaning towards “no”. We wanted the kids to go to school so that they could actually make money and be someone in life. Then our son explained the trade school in a way that we could understand. He said it was for HVAC repair. Then he explained how much money a good HVAC technician can actually make. It blew our minds. HVAC technicians make a lot more than marketing majors. Besides, this kid of ours has always been the tinkering type. He was always taking things apart as a kid so that he could see how they worked. We changed our “no” to a “yes” and were excited for this HVAC trade school opportunity. I am so glad we supported him in this. It has been 4 years since then and he has been working as an HVAC technician for 2 of those years already. He is making a lot of money. Additionally, he had fixed our air conditioner at least once too. Most importantly, he is happy and loves what he does. He told me that the hours are long and hard but it is worth it to be able to get the heat working again for families. I couldn’t be more proud.