I’ve had limited time to blog this week. After a few weeks of reduced work hours due to Covid census caps and time off because my husband had surgery (it was minor and he’s fine!), I’m now back to working more normal hours. Even more normal than my new normal this year, since now I don’t have to keep my available hours within my daughter’s school day. This is because she’s a newly minted driver!
My baby girl drove herself to school for the first time the other day. This is a rite of passage I knew was coming, but it’s still bittersweet. She’s only legally had her driver’s license for two weeks now.
She’s been very anxious about driving by herself. Her first day driving to school, we had a 2 hour delay because of some snow the day before and below freezing temps that morning. That day was the day to rip off the band-aid, so to speak. I gave her the choice of driving vs. me taking her, and she decided to drive. She did, however, take me up on my offer to follow her there. Of course, she did an outstanding job driving to school. I pulled into the parking space beside hers to see her grinning ear to ear! She did it.
And while ushering your kids through major milestones is awesome, this one feels so much different. My baby. Earning that first adult privilege. This is crazy! I’m not this old. She’s not this old! Where has the time gone? And I will miss our before and after school conversations so much.
This weekend, my older daughter turns 20. And I am once again astounded that I’m this old. That she’s this old.
All I know is, the more I try to slow life down, the more it seems to speed up, aggressively passing everyone in the slow lane; making me turn my head in disbelief that anything could be that fast and crazy. Life happens.
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Are you ushering your kids through major, adult-ish rites of passage, too? I’d love to hear about it.
As always, I hope you all are safe and healthy.
Anne the Vegan 
I’m sure her first experience driving solo to school, and in the snow, was a little scary. I’m glad she handled it well. Sounds like you did a great job raising your girls.
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Sometimes I feel like they were so easy that they raised themselves. They have always been very disciplined with schoolwork, etc. Of course, there are some stereotypical teenage behaviors, like a messy room, but they are otherwise self-driven. They also recognize injustices and stick up for their friends. And, yes, driving to school with a few ice patches solo for the first time was a bit intimidating! I’m just glad I had the day off to give her some training wheels, so to speak!
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Sounds like you are a great mom and I’m glad you were able to provide those training wheels for her too.
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