Kidlet is getting her license!

My youngest baby aint a baby no mo. Nosirree. She's 17 now and she's about to get her official drivers license. That means she can  head out (escape) into the wild blue yonder all on her own . I'm happy for her and sad for me and I'm a little bit scared.

She's doing a pretty good job at driving. She's cautious, doesn't speed, and she follows the rules. Which means the other drivers are going to roll right over her. Caution is a good thing but she's so cautious it's going to take her ages to get wherever she's going. There has to be a 2 mile wide open gap between cars before she feels comfortable enough to pull out onto the street. She stops at least 2 (17) car lengths behind others when approaching a stop light. She's just really super duper cautious. The first day she takes off for school on her own, I'm sure I'll be glued to the window watching her drive off. With tears in my eyes. And an ache in the pit of my stomach. It's not her that I'm worried about, it's all of the other crazies out there whose erratic driving will probably scare her to death. 

We had an encounter where she didn't plan her lane strategy far enough in advance and didn't have time to turn when she wanted to. The good thing is that it doesn't bother her to have to drive around the block and try again. Somehow, I see her going around the block for a better approach becoming a normal thing. For a long time.

I'm not making fun of her, really I'm not. It's just hard for me to grasp not knowing how to drive, because I've been driving since I was about 10 or 11 so it's second nature. I figure that after being a passenger for 17 years, it wouldn't be hard to get behind the wheel and just go. I guess that's just the difference in people.

I will give kidlet credit - she remembers all of the rules she was taught in driving school. She schools me when I've done something wrong when I'm driving. She isn't a lead foot Lucy thank gosh so she won't have to buy brakes twice as often as the rest of the people out there. She doesn't tailgate, she doesn't switch lanes every 3 minutes, she's just super cautious.

I can honestly say that I've only used the invisible brake pedal on the passenger side once or twice since she's been behind the wheel. So all in all, she's doing a great job and I should slow my paranoid roll. I only hope that she learns to relax a little and enjoy driving. And not get run over by the other crazies. Cross your fingers and wish her luck.