As most of you know, I'm having trouble adjusting to my youngest daughter being a senior in high school and a new driver. Every day she leaves the house and I pray God will keep her safely in his hands, and I try not to worry, but I think I was born with the worry gene.
She is used to going places with friends and family, but this weekend is the first time she has gone to Lexington with just her friends - no adults. I really wanted to tell her NO - No you can't go without an adult, No, No, No! But I've realized, I can't keep her a baby any longer. Yeah, I know, she'll always be my baby because she's the youngest, but my brain and my heart are having trouble accepting the fact she is growing up.
The young lady that was driving to Lexington is really an excellent driver - and she has her full license, not just a graduated intermediate license. There was a total of three girls going, which is a good thing because I was picturing a carload of giggling, talking teenagers. Less people means less distractions for the driver.
And the thing that impressed me the most - the young lady driving came in and introduced herself to me and my husband. She wanted to let us know she was a good driver and she would be very careful driving our daughter to Lexington. I about fell over in the floor! There are still decent teenagers in the world, and my hats off to this young lady's parents.
Did this keep me from worrying about my daughter? No, but it did make me feel a little better. When my daughter got home six hours later she was overjoyed to tell us about her day and I felt a weight lifted off my chest.
I know I can't change things, and really, I don't want to. Children are supposed to grow up and lead their own lives; parents are supposed to give them a firm foundation to begin those lives. The Serenity Prayer is one thing I try to keep in mind when the worries of the day are heavy on my mind.
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
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2 comments:
I'm feeling you! This past summer, my son (who will be a senior this year as well) spent a whole weekend away with his friends.
Granted, they were going to an anime convention, and they are some of the most straight-laced teenage boys you'd ever have the pleasure to meet, but still. How can you not worry?
It's hard to let go. *sigh*
I'm still waiting on my 17 year old to want to drive -- she just has no interest -- all I really want is for her to be able to drive herself to and from school -- which takes about 7 minutes, each way. She keeps talking about going off to college next year -- by the time my other two left home, they'd been driving for two or more years -- at this point, she's not even going to have one year under her belt. It's scary enough to think of her going off to college without also having to worry about her driving skills.
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