Kid is the 17-year old living with us right now. He is in DH's first period class, and both plays he's directing this semester. Kid was thrown out of his house right after Christmas. For a couple weeks, he stayed on friends' couches, but those ran out. For 4 days, he slept in his car in the school parking lot (in January!). That's when DH heard and offered him a *temporary* place to stay. That was last Monday.
Kid is trying valiantly to get emancipated before he turns 18. It would give him access to housing, medicaid, and welfare. DH is trying valiantly to get him into foster care. That would, in theory, keep Kid in school until he graduates in May. I am trying valiantly to stay neutral.
Kid is in theatre, on the bowling team, in AP classes, and has a part-time job. He's up for a bowling scholarship for a local university if he can just stay in school until May. (I didn't even know universities had bowling teams!)
I worry about Kid. He reminds me a lot of my little brother. Same sense of humor, same mannerisms. They're both self-centered (but then again, are there any 17 or 22 year old boys who aren't?). I'm afraid that if Kid gets put into foster care, it'll be way out of our district, and he'll lose out on his senior year at his school. I'm afraid that if he goes into a group home (another option), he'll lose more than that. I'm afraid that if he stays here, we'll go broke.
DH and I actually talked about Kid staying here until he graduates. It's an option. We have a 4-bedroom house that we were planning on filling with babies. We certainly have the space. Kid could possibly pay us a very small amount in rent and could finish out the year at school. The BIG problem with this is that we're pretty sure this is majorly against district policy. We're not even supposed to give students rides home, much less let them live with us.
CPS, of course, is trying to reunify him with his crazy, alcoholic mother, as that is always their main goal. Kid says he doesn't want to go back there, under any circumstances.
We just don't know what to do. On the one hand, he is polite and helpful. He always calls to let us know he's on his way home from work. He goes to bed when we do, and takes care of his stuff. On the other hand, he is an actor, so I'm not sure if he's really this sincere, or just trying to keep from getting kicked out again. Also, I'm only 26, and not old enough to be foster-anything, except maybe foster-sister. So I look at this in a very different perspective than DH.
And on something only sort-of related:
DH joked about having super sp.erm when we first got married. He has none.
DH joked about adopting a 17-year old after watching "The Blind Side". Now we have one.
I told DH he's not allowed to make any more jokes about children until ours are at least 18.
That'll work, right?
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