Reflections on Diapers and Driver’s Licenses

I am the mother of a teenage son who now posses a Driver’s License. Good Lord help us all. Teenager took his classroom training in Driver’s Ed last summer during summer school as you may recall from this post. Although he was eligible to get his license 6 months after that we found it took considerable time to get in all the driving time requirements, complete the Behind the Wheel course (which you have to pay for) and also complete a Teen Driving Safety program with a parent. Hubby has been working diligently with him on all this over the course of the last year and when he first started going out with him for driving lessons he’d come back with eyes as big as saucers and looking a little pale. Teenager told me he’d hang onto the “chicken bar” while he sat nervously in the passenger seat. (And it’s here I should put in a public thank you to the Hubby for teaching Teenager to drive---all 50 hours-- because goodness knows I wouldn’t have made it!) So today Teenager drove solo for the very first time. He informed me just before leaving he had never been allowed/taught to back the car out of the garage. So, after instructing him on how to do this, I stood there in the garage, watching as my firstborn strapped on his seatbelt, started the ignition of the car and slowly backed out and drove off. Good grief, where has the time gone? Here he was, behind the wheel of the car, and he’s driving the thing. Wow. And yikes!

Speaking of kids growing up, the little guy is now less than two months away from turning three. How on earth can that be possible? I know I am in denial because in my mind “I just had a baby”. Okay, “I just had a baby a few months ago.” No? All right then, I had a baby exactly 34 months ago and I still have some of the baby weight. I know we have to start working diligently on potty training and I also know we have to ditch the nighttime binkie here pretty soon. But I’m having a huge crisis with all of this because at the same time he’s also going to need a bed before too much longer and so basically my diaper wearing, binkie sucking, crib sleeping baby will suddenly be wearing underwear and sleeping in a bed. Then he’ll be driving. And before you know it he’ll be off to college, never write, never call and I won’t like his girlfriend and…… I know, I know. It happens. Kids grow up-it’s inevitable. Like my Hubby says, you simply have to enjoy the stages they are in and enjoy every minute of it.