My dear daughter is 16 and as of June 1st, is a licensed
driver. I thought that when the day
would come, I would be an emotional mess.
Guess what - I wasn’t. The first
time she drove off by herself, it was strange, but I did not cry. Probably had to do with the fact that I was
too busy to be emotional. I was helping
to put a party together – there is no crying in party planning!
About a week after she got her license, she wanted to go to her best
friend’s house. This is a 23 mile,
one-way trip on back roads. Her dad and
I said in unison, “No.” However, after
me taking her there a few more times and some review of the roads, when she
asked again a week later, I let her go – twice.
She had to call when she got there and before she left. And she had to be home before dark. She
did great on both trips.
After a day of running errands in town, she came back home with no
problems. Next morning though, the car would
not start. She thought it was her
battery. But it didn’t sound like the
battery; sounded like she was out of gas.
Especially when she told me that her gas gauge needle was on ‘E’. So now she was off in my van, with her dad’s
gas container, to the closest station for a gallon. After she put it in her car, it started - lesson
learned.
She drove herself to a baby- sitting job yesterday and a meeting at
church this morning. Tonight, she got a
chocolate craving and without me thinking a wink about it, I asked her to pick
up some paper towels. She got her dad’s
debit card, the car keys and drove to the store. She arrived back home with the items and
started baking the cookies.
I can say with all honesty, that this new chapter in my daughter’s life
has started smoothly and I am thankful for not being a cry-baby momma. Maybe the emotions will come at another
stage. But for now, I am enjoying this new phase in our life. That
is, until she needs to drive on the interstate by herself. That day is coming. I will let you know if I needed tissues.
And yeah, I know she is growing up way too fast …
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