Stressing here. DS19 going to Houston to work

[jjarman]

He is my only child and the three of us, me, his dad and I are very close. But he is taking a semester off from school (with our blessing since he doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up ) and going to Houston with a buddy to work in construction. I figure he will either figure out he likes hard labor or he will see the value of a college education. They are staying with the owner of the company and his wife at their home outside of Houston. I am in South Mississippi so it is a little far. He is a pretty good kid but he won't be just down the road at college if something happens (like the concussion he got his freshman year just before finals). He has plenty of money, calling card, health insurance card, automobile insurance card, drivers license, medicines, etc. That is all he will let me do. I guess I am just having a hard time letting go.

Anyone else facing this?

I have resolved to spend the next 2 weeks really throwing myself into getting ready for my trip to WDW with my brother and his family.

 

[Silent1CB]

Gotta cut those strings at some point. Sounds like a good start. He's got a job & a place to stay with adults. What more could you ask for?

 

[DizBelle]

He is my only child and the three of us, me, his dad and I are very close. But he is taking a semester off from school (with our blessing since he doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up ) and going to Houston with a buddy to work in construction. I figure he will either figure out he likes hard labor or he will see the value of a college education. They are staying with the owner of the company and his wife at their home outside of Houston. I am in South Mississippi so it is a little far. He is a pretty good kid but he won't be just down the road at college if something happens (like the concussion he got his freshman year just before finals). He has plenty of money, calling card, health insurance card, automobile insurance card, drivers license, medicines, etc. That is all he will let me do. I guess I am just having a hard time letting go.

Anyone else facing this?

I have resolved to spend the next 2 weeks really throwing myself into getting ready for my trip to WDW with my brother and his family.

I'm wondering about the health insurance. If he is on your insurance as a dependent, doesn't he have to be a full time student? If he's taking the semester off, he's not a student, and therefore can't be on your insurance. Right?

Or is this some third party independent insurance?

 

[jjarman]

True. He is staying with adults. I don't know them but friends of mine, parents of the boy he is going with, know him real well.

As for insurance, they don't ask so I am not telling. They will ask again in July but I think he just had to be a student at the beginning of the school year which he was. Boy that was a pain too trying to prove he was enrolled before classes even started.

 

[allison443]

True. He is staying with adults. I don't know them but friends of mine, parents of the boy he is going with, know him real well.

As for insurance, they don't ask so I am not telling. They will ask again in July but I think he just had to be a student at the beginning of the school year which he was. Boy that was a pain too trying to prove he was enrolled before classes even started.

Wow, you are taking a chance...what if he gets hurt on the construction job and it comes out he was working there in Houston, not in school in Mississippi?
It might be worth looking into an inexpensive policy for him-we recently looked into this for my dd when she graduated college and came off our policy. I mean, the expense is part of being out of school and working in the real world, right, and that's what he's supposed to be learning!

Also, he has a calling card? Does that mean he has no cell phone? Will you have a way to get in touch with him (I hope so for your sake mom )

Good luck to him! I hope you can adjust-I know it might be tough for you at first!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Wow, you are taking a chance...what if he gets hurt on the construction job and it comes out he was working there in Houston, not in school in Mississippi?
It might be worth looking into an inexpensive policy for him-we recently looked into this for my dd when she graduated college and came off our policy. I mean, the expense is part of being out of school and working in the real world, right, and that's what he's supposed to be learning!

Also, he has a calling card? Does that mean he has no cell phone? Will you have a way to get in touch with him (I hope so for your sake mom )

Good luck to him! I hope you can adjust-I know it might be tough for you at first!

As he is young and I would assume healthy since he is working in construction, I would look into private insurance for at least the next 6 or 7 months (you say they check again in July). PP is right about him getting hurt on a job site and the insurance company finding out. They could deny coverage after the fact since you failed to inform him of a status change. Just something to think about.

And good luck OP. I have an only (only 9) but I know that even though it would be the right thing to let the kiddo go, it would still be hard.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Wow, you are taking a chance...what if he gets hurt on the construction job and it comes out he was working there in Houston, not in school in Mississippi?
It might be worth looking into an inexpensive policy for him-we recently looked into this for my dd when she graduated college and came off our policy. I mean, the expense is part of being out of school and working in the real world, right, and that's what he's supposed to be learning!

Also, he has a calling card? Does that mean he has no cell phone? Will you have a way to get in touch with him (I hope so for your sake mom )

Good luck to him! I hope you can adjust-I know it might be tough for you at first!

Yes, that is a biggie. If he gets hurt he is not going to be covered. They will more than likely deny the claims on the basis of fraud on your part.

With my dd who is a Freshman, she is not allowed to have a full time job and be covered by our insurance.

It is a gamble. Good Luck to your ds!

 

[Acklander]

I would assume that if he got hurt on the job that workman's comp would cover it. Now, if he got hurt off the clock that's another story.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would assume that if he got hurt on the job that workman's comp would cover it. Now, if he got hurt off the clock that's another story.

Good point. The job he has taken would cover him. I did not think of that, duh.

 

[janets]

The job's insurance will cover him if he is hurt or injured ON THE JOB. Not if he ends up with the flu, an appendicitis, cuts himself at home and needs stitches, etc. While a healthy 19 yo young man will most likely be okay, my boss's 19 yo nephew recently had stomach pains and thought it was nothing serious. He's in college in NYC but his parents live up in NH or Vermont and their policy had limited resources in NYC.

He finally went to the hospital, found out that his appendix was so badly infected that they had to do emergency surgery, he was septic, etc. Was in the hospital for at least 2 weeks and still is not recovered.

Please, look into a private policy for him while he's working. While normally everything is fine, young men do get sick and if your insurance finds out that he's out of school and working f/t in TX, they will deny him coverage.

 

[allison443]

I would assume that if he got hurt on the job that workman's comp would cover it. Now, if he got hurt off the clock that's another story.

Yes, as long as he's working "on the books".... Sometimes that is not the case....just saying. I hope it is for the op's sake!

He's apparently not getting health benefits from the job though...so I guess he is not in a union either that could provide benefits?

 

[Acklander]

Yes, as long as he's working "on the books".... Sometimes that is not the case....just saying. I hope it is for the op's sake!

He's apparently not getting health benefits from the job though...so I guess he is not in a union either that could provide benefits?

Usually you don't get benefits until you've worked the job awhile, I don't know of anyone who gets them right from the first day - you usually have to go through the probationary period first. Even if he's "off the books" and the company has some type of insurance, he'll be covered. I knew this one guy who had worked for over 20 years off the books and when he got hurt on the job he was covered by the insurance company.

 

[DizBelle]

True. He is staying with adults. I don't know them but friends of mine, parents of the boy he is going with, know him real well.

As for insurance, they don't ask so I am not telling. They will ask again in July but I think he just had to be a student at the beginning of the school year which he was. Boy that was a pain too trying to prove he was enrolled before classes even started.

Wow. Them not asking is not a good reason to lie about his status.

"But you didn't ask!" will not fly when they deny his claim.

 

[minkydog]

OP, I understand where you're coming from. My DS23 quit in the middle of his senior year of High School to join Disney on Ice, not as a skater but as a carny! He was 18, so what could I say? We helped him get a cell phone and he was still on our insurance so we "let" him go *like we could stop him*

It was the longest 5 months of my life. He traveled the northeast in the middle of winter unloading the trucks, selling popcorn and snowcone, hiking up and down stadium steps night after night, reloading the trucks in the ice and snow, traveling in a bus convoy in the middle of the night to get to the next venue week after week. He got sick in Portland, Maine, really sick and had to go to the hospital with severe dehydration. We couldn't get to him, he just had to buck up and handle it.

But I'll tell you one thing. When that tour was ended he came home a different person. He knew he wanted to finish high school and get a diploma because as he said,"I don't want to be a carny all my life!" He worked hard and graduated from a homeschool program the week after his friends, then went to college for several semesters.

I say, do it. Get your son some interim insurance. Wish him well and let him go. You will be amazed at the transformation.