Saving money through cleaning

Michael is at his mother's this week, so I decided to take the opportunity to clean his room. I do this knowing that he'll be mad at me for, as he sees it, invading his space, but I figure he'll be better off for being in a clean area while he sulks.

So far this week I have done eight load of laundry and hauled three trash bags full of garbage out of there. I have put all his books, music and movies into one place, organized his newly clean clothes, and put his winter things away for the return of cold weather. I found clothes in there that his mother bought him last fall which still had the tags on them. He has many more clothes than I had any idea, and since almost all of them have been sitting on the floor since he was given the responsibility of doing his own laundry, they are as good as new.

(This is kind of nice, because it means that really, I only need to buy him jeans, socks, underwear and shoes for school. It turned out he has seven coats, ranging from a windbreaker to a heavy-duty parka. He has a huge pile of t-shirts and a pile of shorts and swimtrunks that he wears as shorts that is even taller.)

All I need to do now is make his bed and dust a little. And it only took me two days. (Yes, that is sarcasm, just in case you're confused.)

There is just one small problem. Michael has a good reason, it seems, to want us to stay out of his room. I found an open pack of cigarettes hidden in his drawers.

His father and I will be having a long discussion with him the day he gets home. Rebellion is one thing, smoking is another. I don't care for his bad behavior but I accept it as part of this age. I will not, however, tolerate his doing something that is going to risk his health and his life.

I would never have thought he would do something this stupid. I thought he was smart enough to realize what a health hazard smoking is.

I think this is what my mother would call, "cutting off your nose to spite your face."