Driver's Ed

It would seem that the days of driving kids around are over.  Now I am the one being chauffeured, which might be more pleasant if I could recline in the back seat and pretend the driver is a real chauffeur.   However the Highway Traffic Act demands that I sit in the front passenger seat while my novice driver continues to learn the rules of the road and how to operate a moving vehicle safely.

Of my four sons, the last two are still learners, although my youngest is practically counting the days until he can take his road test.  While he drives me around, he chatters on about how “when I have my license ...”, and finishes the phrase with statements like “... I won’t just go the speed limit” or “...I’d like to have a racing motorcycle”.  Yeah, not really the things a mother wants to hear.

Each one of my boys is so different, and I find it interesting that their driving style in some ways reflects their personality.   We joked around one day that my oldest, who is quite similar to me in many ways, also drives like me, while Son #2 drives like his father.    Son #3 is more hesitant and passive, which is probably why he still has his learner’s permit two years later, and the youngest, in typical scrappy fight-for-everything-because-I’m-the-little-brother fashion, will get behind the wheel whenever he can, even if it means going grocery shopping or running errands with me.

Sitting in the passenger seat certainly challenges my communication skills.  It’s not just the words used, but also the tone and volume.   Affirmation is key.

Sitting in the passenger seat also means giving up a certain amount of control.  I’ve never considered myself a “control freak”, but I’m realizing that I like being the one behind the wheel.

This isn’t just an education for the boys, learning how to drive, but it is a learning experience for me too.  I am learning how to release them as they grow and mature, and I am flexing my trust muscles, trusting that when the time comes and they are behind the wheel on their own, literally and figuratively, that they would be wise and make good choices.