16 year old took her first, by herself, with licensse, drive last night. Cheerleading practice. Nissan Altima. I videotaped. She's tells me to turn the camera off, then rolls her window up, and drives to the end of the block. I continue to film, and then zoom in on the car. It stops, signal goes on, and it waits. A couple of cars whiz by (too fast) and then she turns the car left. Fade out.
... so was it a good feeling or bad feeling? on the plus side, you don't have to play taxi, on the bad side you're sitting at home worrying until she pulls back in.
For mom it's going to be negative for awhile. For me it was bittersweet, which is a feeling that doesn't bother me all that much. Things like this make me feel vaguely sad but also really alive -- part of the circle of life nonsense. The interesting thing about this kid is that she is tiny (4 10", about 90 pounds). Being able to drive is a big deal to her -- really empowering. I guess it was for me too.
Awesome, in an old-fashioned sense of the word. What got me when my son drove himself for the first time were two looks on his face. One was the big grin on his face when he settled behind the wheel and the other was glimpse of something like self-doubt as he actually pulled away from the house.
my youngest just got her license about two months ago. That day I let her take the car to work. She came home that night and said everyone on the road must have thought she was strange because the whole time driving she had a stupid ear to ear smile on her face and giggled the whole way. She is the smartest of the 3 girls I have, probably the most responsible too but for some reason I get more frightened when she is out than the other two. Maybe because she is the baby.
I remember the first time I drove by myself. I was so dang nervous that I was sweating like a mofo. Of course, it also could've been the fact that it was August in Alabama and I didn't have air conditioning in my car.
Air conditioning made a big difference in NC, too. Especially on date night--my girlfriend was a lot more willing to go parking if I had the car with AC.
When I first drove by myself I didn't think anything of it. I appear to have missed the significance.
OMG... I wasn't that nervous when I had my permit and was driving with my parents... but the first time I drove by myself I was scared to death. I remember thinking that I was in no way responsible enough to be driving. My little sister can get her permit in 6 months and its just scary thinking that shes legally allowed to drive.