I find that the very things that I argued with my parents over have become battles with my teenagers. The fashions they choose, music they listen to and language they use have been the focus of many of our family gatherings lately. I have found it hard not to participate in the arguments, even though I know that my children are good kids.



My son has been working part-time jobs since he was twelve years old to earn money for a car. He had had paper routes, mowed lawns and has worked at fast food restaurants. Now that he is looking at vehicles he is most interested in the car speaker systems than in the safety and mechanics of the vehicle.

He had saved a decent amount of money and would be able to buy a safe reliable vehicle. However he feels it is important that the car speaker systems are top notch. The car he is most interested in has many miles on it and needs new breaks, but the car speaker systems are loaded. He argues that it is his money and that he will be responsible for the cars up keep. My concern is that he will be putting a great deal of additional money into keeping the car running and that the car speaker systems will make him a target for theft.

My son and I have always been very close, but the process of buying this vehicle is placing a strain on our relationship. My husband has stepped in and has decided that he will help with the decision making concerning the vehicle. This did not ease my mind a great deal because I remember the car speaker systems that he had in his early vehicle purchases.

I told them that I would stay out of process if they would promise me that he would not drive one of the vehicles that send a pulsing through the streets when they go by. We have all experienced sitting at a stop sign, or walking down the sidewalk and being able to feel the bass thumping in the car next to us. My son assured me that he was not interested in having a sub-woofer in the trunk.

I was pleasantly surprised when my son pulled into our yard with a late model four door sedan. He said that he bought it from a private party and that the car had low mileage. He knew it was a reliable car so he decided to buy it and will now save money to buy custom car speaker systems. We will cross that bridge when we come to it and in the mean time he is driving a safe nice looking car.