Gen 3 Chapter 34: I need a vacation!

Being an elder is hard work. Actually I work less now than I used to, which isn't doing much for my quest for that last promotion. I also tire more easily so I don't even get to enjoy all of that extra free time! It's a good thing that Gwyn is always up for a little nap, too, or we might never spend much time together!



I've learned to relax more, though. I take time to enjoy the little things. I gave my dad a lot of grief in his elder years about always being out of the house, playing his guitar around town. But I totally get it now. Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do... because you never know how much time you have left.



It helps that I have a very responsible young man around the house (and I totally understand now why my parents put so much responsibility on me when I was younger!). Sebastian is such a stable influence in the house. He loves his sister and brother and worries over his mother and me. I worry that he might be too much like me in that regard. I don't want him to postpone his own happiness by being too responsible!



Neither Gwyn nor I been too motivated to teach little Nemo anything. We just enjoy cuddling and playing with him too much, I guess! Gwyn did decide to teach him to talk one day, but they soon got sidetracked by much more interesting things.



And then there's Ariel. She's been skipping school. Again. We've recently been informed that she's failing her classes and we can't seem to get her to care about school at all. She rides the bus in the morning, but apparently gets off somewhere along the line and just goes wandering around town!



You'd think that someone would report a random teenager visiting highly public places during the school time, but so far we only hear about it after the fact. Gwyn and I have given up yelling at her at this point. It doesn't do any good, anyway. She just doesn't care at all!



(I wonder where Ariel got her insistence in playing in the water all the time, Gwyn?)



I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to teach Ariel a sense of responsibility. I want her to understand that there are no free rides. That she needs to learn and work and take care of herself.



An opportunity came up for Gwyn, Sebastian, and me to go on a free vacation. Gwyn and I talked it over and decided that this might be just the thing to teach Ariel about life! It was kind of a "sink or swim" plan... Ariel would either figure out how to fend for herself for a few days or she'd discover that she was in no way prepared to take care of herself and maybe take her studies (and life in general) a bit more seriously. It's a great plan, if I do say so myself.



I just can't help thinking that we've forgotten something.



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A/N: They actually just drove off and left poor Nemo sitting in the front yard, exhausted and hungry! Between that and their refusal to wish to teach him any of his toddler skills, I'm a little worried about the poor kid! Ariel has gone to school maybe twice in her entire teen-hood so far and no one even bothers to punish her for it anymore. The household is so weird right now!

Outtakes!

Little Nemo is going to get a complex, what with most of his family standing around complaining about him!


Jagger was a bit of a creeper while Gwyn was playing in the sprinkler...


This is just sad. Poor Nemo passed out in the yard, with the garbage. They actually "called" a babysitter before they left, but he just stood around on the front porch doing absolutely nothing.