I think his instincts are good--no need to tell a dad who won't be supportive.
I see where he's coming from now, but his stress levels are definitely elevated over it. I know he had his first boyfriend recently(that was a short lived situation), and his aunt(dad's sister) works at his school, so that might be escalating it. I did suggest that when he's ready to communicate about it on that side of the family, that particular aunt might be a good first person to tell(I remember her being more understanding than some of the others).
I think it would be harder to hide as he gets older, but no need think about it now.
He might enjoy it if you took him to Pilot or Flying J to learn how to do his laundry there, how to deal with the people there, how to deal with the showering situation. I think both places have a phone app that is relatively important, too. Actually there are a variety of types of truck stops, and so that might be something worth practicing for various ones. He could also see how drivers get fuel.
Can he ride a bicycle? Another idea is motorcycle lessons from mf-usa.org These cost around 500$. They provide a small bike and helmet, and they teach you (as part of a group) everything from A to Z about how to ride. Part of the training includes DMV traffic rules and takes place indoors with desks. Its a weekend course that mostly takes place in a large parking lot, and family are welcome to observe. This is a way to find out how far he has to go in order to make reasonable driving decisions.
Those are very practical ideas. Good for his grandfather to help with, too. He was a career trucker. He's been retired about 6 or 7 years.
Somewhere else would be better to do laundry at... he knows how to do laundry, but had his privileges revoked as far as my machines go. He kept taking the clean clothes out of the washer, and instead of putting them in the dryer, would dump them back into the clean clothes(full well knowing better) because he didn't want to deal with it. After having some stuff ruined because of the moisture, and having talked to him about it(and been ignored) I decided he wasn't allowed to use the machines anymore. We're working(somewhat successfully) at getting him to stick his dirty clothes in the hampers so they can be laundered in a timely manner. He was saving it all up until he had nothing to wear, and wanting me to scurry and clean his stuff for the next day, as he'd waited until the last minute. I was unwilling to do that, and after having to re-wear his clothes more than once, he found it unpleasant enough that he's making an effort to oversee this aspect of his laundry. Not perfectly, but there's progress.
We were starting to work a bit with him to get his license, but when he decided to go back to in person schooling after two years online, he got a little overwhelmed with it. Maybe the spring would be a good time to pick that up again(we have nasty icy winters here; not a good time to learn).
Thanks for the well thought out ideas.
Kinda similar, but not really.
My eldest (14) has told us she is bisexual. To be honest, given how her generation is (at least around here) my wife and I only semi-believe her. All the kids seem very invested in working out their 'labels' and she's as confused about almost everything as most 14 year olds.
Anyway, we just push the simple message that whatever her and her friends are in terms of sexuality, religion, gender, etc, they're welcome in our house as long as they treat others well.
No exes to worry about (hence different to your situation). Closest we get is that her grandfather is a very lively and forceful personality, and he often asks her if she has a boyfriend, or makes somewhat aged jokes about LGBTQIA+.
We've spoken to my eldest about it. But she's a girl who keeps her cards close to her chest, so it's hard to tell what she actually thinks. Out of date attitudes or not, though, I think she knows her Pa won't love her less if she comes out as bi,vso it's more awkward than problematic.
So...no real advice, but we tried to explain the jokes and possible reaction she'll get, hoping that smooths things a touch.
My husband follows your line of thinking on the situation. I admit the only thing that surprised me with his coming out was the admission that he liked women at all. I always assumed he'd bring home another boy.
But yes, I agree. We've always maintained that everybody was welcome as long as they were kind and courteous.
I'm glad Pa will love your daughter no matter what.
