Ten and Two

This was pretty cute eleven years ago when I didn't have the foresight to think about the reality of the day my girls would start driving, when I was so caught up in the cuteness of my kids, when I could walk behind the Barbie Jeep and stop it with one hand if I needed to... 

And out of nowhere, Cambria finished her online Drivers' Ed course. She turned 15 on November 21st, and on December 4th, she got her permit!!

I have been told this is a good thing. I am trying to convince myself to believe the people who have said that this is a good thing because right now I'm little stuck in the bittersweetness of it all.

I do have to compliment Cam for doing a fantastic job in her first two weeks of being someone with permission to drive, granted by the Great State of Texas.

I am sure Heidi Murkoff is a wonderful person - after all, she held our hands through every single one of the "What to Expect When You're..." (Expecting...In the First Year...In the Second Year) books, and we appreciated her for that and we turned to her for advice - to make sure we weren't completely screwing things up in those first 33 months of our little human's lives.

I am a little bit disappointed that there isn't a book titled, "What to Expect When You're Sitting in the Front Passenger Seat with Your New Driver" because that would have been super helpful right about now.

Just saying...

Our first official outing was to Target (of course it was). Before we left our house, she had these "guidelines" for me:

1. "You're going to have to tell me when to go if there are a lot of cars. If there aren't a lot of cars, you just have to trust me."
2. "If I'm not all the way in my lane, you have to tell me, but say it quietly - not in a loud voice - because I have to concentrate."
3. "You can't hang on to the "oh $hi+ bar" because that makes me feel like you don't have confidence in me."
4. "There is a big difference between saying STOP and saying slow down, so think before you say it or I might accidentally slam the brakes for no reason."
5. "At stoplights, you might have to remind me when to go and when to not go." 

Fair enough...I completely appreciated the heads up she gave me! 

As we walked out to the car and Cam hopped into the drivers' seat (where she looked like she was six years old all over again), Jordan gave me a few of her own directives:

1. "You can't talk to her while she's driving."
2. "She can't have the radio on."
3. "Make her concentrate."
4. "Don't let her be a distracted driver."
5. "Buckle your seatbelt and hang on tight - but not on that handle because it makes her nervous."

Y'all, my girl is serious when she's driving. Ten and two. Laser-like focus. Love it. 

At the first stoplight we came to, she said, "Thank God - my eyes were about to water. I can blink now!"

Sometimes we go really, really slow in places that don't imply slowness, and that's okay. Sometimes it seems she thinks the faster she hits the speed limit, the better. Sometimes we are all the way in the correct lane, and other times, not so much. Pulling into parking spaces often ends with, "Mom. I totally owned that!" (and then we both open our doors to look at the lines on the pavement)

Of course we have those times when the things that come out of my mouth don't register as quick as they should I would have hoped. Things like, "STOP." "Slow down." "I'm not quite sure you're in your lane all the way."

And then we have those times when Jordan, the non-licensed, non-permitted twelve year old complains of whiplash, mutters prayers, deeply (and audibly) exhales when we arrive at our destination, and even offers her own non-licensed, non-permitted backseat-driver advice (kids these days!).

My favorite quote through all of this is:

"Jordan, one thing that would reeaaalllyyy help me is if you'd just shut up and stop saying, 'OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIIEEEE!!!!' because that is unbelievably annoying and distracting and it makes me feel like you don't believe in me."

{To which Jordan replied, "Great inference, Cam."}

This whole teaching-your-kid-to-drive-thing is kind of like learning to dance. Sometimes we're on different pages, stepping on each others' feet. Other times, we're gliding along as smoothly as can be, and there have only been a couple of times when we've nearly bumped into other people (aka my hand on the emergency brake). We're figuring out our waltz, and nobody has completely lost their mind. Yet. 

I really couldn't be more proud of my girl. It seems like driving has given her a new sense of understanding what it means to be responsible, and her maturity has kicked into hyper-overdrive. Or maybe she is just growing up and her frontal lobe is doing the thing frontal lobes do during the teen years. 

Either way, life's a dance, we're learning as we go, and I wouldn't have it any other way.