I mentioned a “pseudo nephew” a few weeks ago in the post entitled Launching. I’ve called him “the boy” in Twitter posts and Facebook updates and lately I’ve been getting asked about him so I wrote this entry.

Tommy (the boy) was in Ivy’s preschool class when he was a tadpole and we’ve stayed in touch with him throughout the years. He came up to visit us for a summer after we moved to Vancouver. Fast forward a bit and he’s 20 years old. I’ll spare you the preamble, but the punchline is that he was offered two choices: join the military or hit the bricks.

We offered him a third option.

He moved up with us on August 9th of last year. A semester away from graduating, we enrolled him in the local high school. He passed 5 out of 6 classes and then took another class online to square away the remaining credits. He walked with the graduating class of 2010 at Union High School last Wednesday. We got him his class ring for his graduation present–he definitely earned it.

At the moment he’s attending the School of Klassen. The curriculum includes applying for jobs, daily workouts (weights 3x week, cardio 3x week), reading every day (development & pleasure), and doing various chores around the house. Each week he holds up his end of the bargain, he gets internet access and all the trimmings for the following week. If he falls short, some privileges come off the list. It works just like a job. Do the work, get paid; don’t do the work, don’t get paid.

We sat down and talked about goals. Short-term is a job and possibly a Pell grant to take some college classes next year; mid-term is a CCNA certification and a vehicle (with insurance, of course); and long-term is his very own apartment and independence.

I never know what to call him. He’s not blood, but he’s family. It’s awkward to call him my son given we’re only 12 years apart so for simplicity’s sake, when the long version was too involved to get into, I’ve called him my nephew.

He’s a bright kid and I’m constantly amazed how quickly he picks things up when he wants to. The challenge has been getting him to want to do things. We’re winning, so far. =)