I have been up since 4 a.m. and it isn’t on purpose. I woke up to use the bathroom but when I tried to settle back to sleep, all I could think about was the new chapter ahead of our family.
My 16-year-old son passed his driver’s license test yesterday. The state of Wisconsin has made it legal for him to drive…by himself.
I really wasn’t prepared for the feelings this would dredge up. I was torn between excitement for him, a sense of relief that soon my days of driving him all over town would be done but then there was that nagging sense of fear.
I told my husband that I think I’m in real trouble if I was already kept awake just by the thought of him driving. What in the world am I going to do the first time he steps out of our house and drives off by himself?
Last night my husband and I talked about our time as teenagers and how back then it only made sense for us to have the freedoms we did. It is so much different when it comes to your own children.
Before I hand over those keys however, he will be required to sign a driving contract. I am going to spend time today putting one together. He won’t want to hear my “lecture” on the responsibility of driving but he will have to deal with that.
I hate the pit in my stomach I feel and I wonder if it will ever go away. I have heard from some parents that they are just so glad to be relieved of chauffeuring duties that it’s no big deal when their kids drive. But then I have heard from other parents that every single time they walk out the door, they deal with some level of worry. I tend to think I will be of the latter type.
If your teen is driving how do you handle this new stage? Did you make your teen sign a driving contract?
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