Calvin finally has an ID. We went in on Friday after church, secretly suspecting that they wouldn’t be open, but they actually were. It felt like going to the DMV on a Sunday — only 2 other people knew of the best kept secret on base. We were out of there in about 30 minutes (a friend waited 5 hours for a new ID card the other day). I’ll never go during the week again.
I also got the boys set up with bank accounts/debit cards. Calvin needed an account for direct deposit for his job so like everything we do, we did it in bulk. They all now have usernames/passwords/PIN numbers and security codes. It took over an hour to get each kid set up with online banking. It’s funny how their different personalities shine through in everything we do. Calvin was straightforward and mature in his choices — standard security questions about grandparents and school, no surprises. Carter wanted his username to be coolboy973 (no meaning to the number), but I convinced him to choose a form of his name for something as important as a bank account. When it was finally Caleb’s turn he read through the security questions and instantly selected “The name of your first girlfriend.” Really? The kid has had a girlfriend? When he typed in the name, I laughed and suggested that he needed to be able to spell the name correctly to use it for security purposes. So he switched to grandmother and typed in “barbra.” In the end, he settled on Pam. Spelling isn’t his strong suit.
But now the kids can spend to their heart’s content and I only have to hear “can we buy ______?” half as much. At the rate they are going, they will be broke in a few weeks. They only have a bunch to spend at the moment because Josh and I never had cash to give them their allowance so we kept a running tally. A forced savings plan, if you will. They better figure out how to save on their own pretty quickly.
