A mom of her word

The wheels of justice often turn quite slowly, but not in the case of Thomas Grimes of Annapolis.

They don't turn at all anymore - because his mother got rid of his SUV after he was stopped by police for driving while intoxicated.

The 2002 Ford Explorer his mother, Mary Jane Grimes, bought for him 2½ years ago was sold after she ran an ad in The Capital that read in part: "Son turns 21. Son gets DWI. Mom sells."

Ms. Grimes said she warned her son that if he ever was caught drinking and driving she'd take his car away, and she wasn't kidding. She never wavered from that position, though it did take her a couple months to put the Explorer on the market. It sat in the driveway, unused, until it was sold.

"I think most parents would have been worse," Ms. Grimes said. "I'm not as strict. This was just something I knew he couldn't get away with. It was tough, but I had to do it."

Dr. Louis Aymard, a psychologist and founder of The Parenting Center at Anne Arundel Community College, applauded Ms. Grimes for sticking to her guns. "One of the axioms of parenting is 'follow- through,' and that's exactly what the mom did in this particular case," he said. "Good for the mom."

As for Mr. Grimes, well, he didn't want to lose his SUV, but he understood it was inevitable, given what happened. He never argued with his mother over her decision to sell the Explorer.

"Oh, it's all right," he said by phone from Miami, where he's in cooking school studying to be a chef. "I expected her to do it."

Mr. Grimes got a bike after losing use of the SUV, but wrecked it, so he's now walking everywhere or getting rides from friends. "I've got two feet," he said.

Even though the situation is far from optimal, he admitted it's had a positive impact on his schoolwork. His grades have gone up since he pretty much has to stay on campus, he said.

Other positives were the calls of support Ms. Grimes said she got after the ad appeared. She got about 10, and all the people told her "right on," she said.

Vehicle of change

Ms. Grimes bought the Explorer for her son in 2006 simply because the family needed some reliable transportation. Her husband had passed away the year before and she needed Mr. Grimes to have a way to get around on his own, she said.

At times, she said, she contemplates getting him another car, but then she thinks better of it. "It's all that stress," she said.

Not to mention all the money, since she was also footing the hefty insurance bill.

Mr. Grimes is the youngest of three children, with two solder sisters, 27 and 30, who didn't pose quite as many challenges, his mother said. "The girls were a heck of a lot easier. If there's mischief out there, boys will find it," she said.

It'll be interesting to see if that holds true for the new owner of the SUV. The Explorer was purchased by a Dunkirk man for his 21-year-old daughter. "The ad caught our attention, all right," Gene McNerney said.

Mr. McNerney said his daughter "loves" her new SUV, but they did have the same talk Ms. Grimes had with her son about drinking and driving.

"You could have the next ad in the paper if you're not careful," he told her.