Life With a Teenage Driver

I’m finding with growing kids, I get to experience all sorts of new adventures with them! Some of these adventures are so fun and exhilirating, some are trying and very emotional, and some are just a little overwhelming! Like having a teenage driver in the house! 🙂

The first time Ali got behind the wheel, I was so calm on the outside, but I was freaking out on the inside! “How in the world could I be old enough to have a daughter who is now driving my car?!” “How can my baby be old enough to be driving?!” “It wasn’t that long ago that I learned how to drive, and now my daughter is?!” These were some of the thoughts running through my mind in those first moments of Ali being behind the wheel for the very first time…even though her drive was only from the beginning of our road to our home. 🙂

Our time with her sitting in the driver’s seat and me sitting in the passenger seat has progressed a whole lot since then! It’s now a very frequent occurrence. A couple of times have been more memorable than others…like the late afternoon after Jill’s funeral. She was begging to drive home as we were on our way home. I pulled off on a gravel road to switch sides, and I’m so glad I did. By stopping to do that, we saw the most AMAZING sunset! I took a picture of it to try to capture that moment. Ali, Zach and I were comforted that day because of that sight, and Ali got to drive home as we enjoyed watching the sun disappear on the horizon.

Another memorable time, this one not so pleasant, was a Saturday morning when Ali took our corner a little too fast–it’s easy to do–our corner can sneak up on a person. I said my usual, “SLOW DOWN!” She made the corner ok, but we were not far from the ditch. Brother Steve and his wife, Kelly witnessed the whole thing as they were coming toward us down the road. I know Ali felt bad, and was probably a little embarrassed, especially since Steve really gave her a hard time. 🙂 I’m glad I can’t remember all the mess ups I did when I first learned how to drive…and if this is the only mess up Ali has, we’ll all be fortunate! 🙂

She has really become a good driver since that day! She and her friend, Cassidy, started Driver’s Ed on the 20th of this month, and will be finished with class next Friday. She’ll then be able to get her school driver’s permit next fall if we choose to do that! (Scary thought for me!) She and Cassidy were so hilarious the other day as I picked them up from class! They found EVERYTHING I did wrong driving, and of course were not shy in correcting me…10 and 2, 3 second follow rule, turn signals, speed limits, etc. They are NOW the expert backseat drivers! 🙂

I always knew this time in my life would come, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the reality of our daughter behind the wheel of a car! I guess this is all part of the process of helping her grow her wings to be able to one day leave our nest…and even though the thought of that saddens me, I really wouldn’t want it any other way!

If you think of it today, say a prayer for God to protect all the teenage drivers (or soon to be) on the roadways today and every day!