What has 6 wheels and 82 legs?

With Beginner Child’s wish to “baaale haaay” when he grew up, I don’t know why I dared to hope that Last Son’s dream for his future would be more...inspiring or ambitious. Nope, when Last Son grows up, what he plans to do is a bit wacky.

From the moment he first stepped inside an RV at the age of six, Last Son has dreamed of living in a motorhome when he grows up...a motorhome with twenty cats. He wants to travel everywhere with his home, and his cats, with him always. This Last Son has always enjoyed traveling, but also shows the biggest relief coming back home and sleeping in his own bed. I suppose in his six-year-old mind living in a motorhome would be a great way to spend his life. And with twenty cats, the odds are good that at least one or two of them will not scatter when he moves to pet them. Last Son does not move anywhere slowly.  He runs in and out of doorways, jumps into bed, does ninja rolls over ottomans, and just doesn't stay still very long. All this movement makes our two cats a bit unsettled. The only way Last Son can pet our cats is to move close to the cat very slowly, with his hands by his side, not make any eye contact, and nonchalantly put his hand on the cat lightly.  Which is very sad since one of the cats is his.  

My parenting has tempered a bit since Last Son came on the scene.  When I heard Last Son's future quest, I did not react like I did to Beginner Child's career choice by packing up and leaving the state. Actually, I was fascinated to hear more about Last Son's motorhome dream.  Perhaps he had a creative career path that needed a motorhome.  Time to ask Last Son to give me some details on his plan.

“Where do you plan on going in your motorhome?” I asked him.

“I’m going to see the world, definitely China,” Last Son replied. He has dabbled with a fascination of China ever since he read about the Great Wall.

“Hmm, how will you get the motorhome from here to there?” I hope he realizes he can’t drive there.  

“On a big container ship.” Hmm, he’s been thinking a bit about this.

“What kind of work will you be doing?” Oh please answer with something that requires some intelligence.

This guy lives in his motorhome and has
five cats that he does tricks with.
I wonder if his mother ever comes to visit?

“I don’t know.” This came with a shrug and a “who knows?” look on his face.   

“Hmm, well, how are you planning to feed all those cats? You are going to need money to buy food for twenty cats.”  

“Look, I haven’t got that far yet, okay mom. Maybe I’ll just have ten cats.” His tone made it clear - I had asked my final question.

In Last Son’s first grade class, there were adorable twin girls who had a bit of a crush on him. Their mother told me the girls were sure that one of them, if not both, were going to grow up and marry Last Son. I informed this mother that Last Son was planning to live in a motorhome with twenty cats when he grew up.  She pondered what I said, and then replied that one of the girls would probably find this arrangement quite agreeable.    

It is now very clear to me that I did not spend time with either of my sons, when they were young and impressionable, discussing all, or apparently any, of the wonderful career choices out in the world available to them.   Last Son has assured me that when I am old I can stay with him in his motorhome, just for a few weeks though...he might need someone to feed his cats.