This is what I said in Tesco's car park yesterday...

So this is what I said to Ben as we walked from the car to Tesco's supermarket yesterday...


"Heck, I've been blogging about it and I thought it was time I told you to your face - I am so very proud of everything you've been doing since you left university last month. All those caveats we talked about in the coffee shop... you've kept to every single one of them - and more. And you've kept on going. There's no stopping you, Ben! Paid jobs, voluntary work, working at school, social life, clubs... you're doing it all. And you've asked for further treatment, because you yourself have admitted that you need it. Wow! I am so proud of you. I am thrilled. I am beyond thrilled!"

"I couldn't have done it without you, mum... I mean if I'd left uni and you'd just sighed and resigned yourself to me wasting my life or something like that...."

"I haven't done it, Ben, you've done it. You've done all this stuff yourself."

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without you..."

"We are a team, you and me. A strong team. We work together like a well-oiled machine."

"But I haven't really achieved much, regarding the jobs..."

"That's not your fault. There's a recession on. And you've done really well to have not one but two interviews for the Games Workshop job. You would have had an interview at Starbucks on Monday if it wasn't for the Starbucks reshuffle following the other shop's closure. And you're working at school once a week. Plus, you're actively pursuing all the voluntary jobs - only today the museum said they'd love to have you as a volunteer. Also S said there might be a vacancy going in the sandwich shop at the station. I'm impressed, Ben. Really impressed."

He gave me a great big hug.