Recently I was talking about driving with a friend from church. She was delighted and scared out of her tree to have her 16 year old son become a licensed driver. Her concerns were not necessarily about his skill and common sense, but that of others out on the roads. I believe this is true for all of us!
The conversation brought back memories of when Justin was old enough to drive. When he was of age, I let him take a turn behind the wheel and pull the car into the garage. Prior to that day he'd been gung ho about learning to drive. Once he had his instruction on how to navigate into the garage from the driveway---avoid the water heater, refrigerator, and central vacuum cleaner and so on---he pulled the car into place. And that was it! He was done, no more interest in learning to drive.
For the rest of his high school years I didn't mind being his driver, or taking my turn with the car pool, picking up kids or dropping them off. But, when it came time for him to go to UNF, a full 30 minutes away, that trip got old quickly. One day I actually drove out there to find that he'd gotten a ride home with a friend. He 'thought' I heard him making the arrangements but I had not. His father was going to give him a car when he got his license which was good.
I tried to teach Justin to drive, taking him on quiet roads and practicing in the cemetery and parking lots. One day, driving down a road which is technically only one and a half lanes wide, I had to urge him to hang a bit to the left to avoid mailboxes and trees. I was informed that the manual said to stay to the right. I asked him if the manual said anything about hitting trees or mailboxes...
When we changed drivers to meet friends for lunch, he was quite upset with me, after I said something about how well the outing went. He said I was critical and a few other things. Wow! That was the first and only time I took the Lord's name in vain, and told him I was so upset with him, since I thought he did well, that I was going to take him home instead to lunch! When I related this story to my friend, Carol, I was still quite upset about the incident with the Lord's name and the anger. She said something so wise to me: "Kim, you cannot teach him to drive..." Nope, and neither could anyone else either. Friends and church family were rebuffed, no no no to their offers.
At last, I hired a driver's ed school to teach him how to drive, hoping they'd coddle him like I did. Nope, they took him out on the freeway right from leaving home. He did well, passed his test using our friend's smaller car and became a licensed driver. No more did he need me to take him everywhere nor did he need to accompany me wherever I was going. Justin had wings, a brand new car, and places to go! I had so wanted him to have wings, and now I was upset because he was using them. Parents do that---give them wings and then get upset when they fly away. I'm so glad he is now often my personal driver, dropping me off at the door when distance is an issue, running to the store for needed items, and getting himself to work and back. I'm so glad his wings bring him right here every night to this lovely nest we share!
