A Responsible Young Adult?

My wife and I try. We really do.

We try very, very hard to raise responsible kids that will be self-reliant and productive members of society.

For the most part, we think we're doing okay. But then we have run like this one.

Our 17-year-old son is, generally speaking, a pretty good kid. He does well in school - good grades, plays sports, no significant discipline problems - works during the summer, has friends that are likewise good kids.

But at times I'd swear he is the human equivalent of a Labrador - good natured, enthusiastic, but lacking the slightest iota of common sense.

In the last 6 months he has (1) backed out of the garage without raising the door, (2) hit a deer (the deer ran off laughing, the car suffered a broken headlight), and (3) right after we got the headlight fixed he swerved off the road trying to avoid another deer.

His explanation: "I didn't want to break a headlight again, so I drove into a culvert and hit a tree."

Fortunately, he wasn't hurt beyond a few bruises and scrapes, but the car was totaled (a waste of a perfectly good 1996 Crown Victoria).

Last week he flew on his own for the first time. He was going from Lubbock to College Station (more on that trip later) and had to change planes in Houston. Of course, he missed his connecting flight. Add to that the fact that his cell phone was dead, because he forgot to charge it the night before he left, so we had no way to contact him. Missing the flight wasn't totally his fault - the first flight was late - but it was just another chapter in the comedy his summer has become.

Last night he went to the movies with a couple of buddies. When he got home he noticed that his wallet didn't arrive with him. After a search of the car and a frantic phone call to the theater he tracked it down. Some Good Samaritan had turned it in to the theater's Lost & Found. It probably helped that he had literally spent his last dollar on snacks there, and he doesn't have any credit cards, so the only thing in the wallet was his driver's license.

Which he will need in two days so he can board the plane for a medical mission to Guatemala.

Here's the really scary part. He is leaving the mission early and flying back from Guatemala by himself, so we can all leave the next day on our annual family vacation. Talk about being on pins and needles until we actually see him get off the plane.

And when he does I'm sure he'll have the same goofy grin and carefree attitude he always does.

If I squint real hard I can see his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his ears flapping in the breeze as he sticks his head out of the car window on the ride home...