When Marcus turned 19 we began the guardianship process. Before we could be approved by the state as guardians, we had to take a class.

This annoyed me. I’ve been Marcus’ mom for half of my life, why do I now need a class? Turned out the class was really about paperwork. In order to protect innocent people from shysters, there is a lot of paperwork. Most of it regarding money. Well, this last year was the first year I had to account for money. Marcus began receiving SSI and also got a job. SO, every penny (I am not exaggerating, every penny) must be accounted for. I marked up an expandable file, created excel sheets, cross referenced to his checking account, kept receipts and notes and, when the annual report came due, consolidated and documented. Whew. Apparently, I did it wrong.