When my son was little, he would admonish anyone else who dared drive my “mommy van” by saying, “NO! Mommy drive the wheel.” These days, mommy doesn’t drive the wheel very often.
We started out last January with his learner’s permit. No big deal. Just a test, a photo and you are off. Well, that and the paperwork proving he is who he is. With permit safely tucked into his wallet, he slipped into the driver’s seat and commenced to steer his way around the parking lot for a while before we moved on to the fairly vacant streets of a new homes subdivision. A few herky-jerky stops and starts gave way to relatively smooth sailing.
Early picture of Drew “Driving the Wheel” in 2006
Fast forward a year…my son has driven the route to and from our high school so many times that I am sure it seems like old hat, but he always remembers to turn to me and say, “I’m not complacent, anything can happen.” That makes a mom feel a little better. That, and my dad has been the same patient teacher he was when I was learning to drive. That makes me feel better too.
In the past year, our learner has taken on Monteagle in Tennessee, the awkward, partially paved I-75 stretch from Gainesville to Tampa in the pouring rain, and Snellville. Snellville has been the worst. Anyone who can navigate the narrow roads and insane pace there, can drive just about anywhere. He prefers Florida-flat, wide-open and sunny. The sunny part is just a bonus.
Now that his birthday has arrived, we move forward into a whole new realm. One in which my seat in the bleachers-or, in this case, in the passenger seat-is coming to an end. The days of digging my nails into the seat cushion and biting my tongue are giving way to stepping lightly around my house looking for things to do in order to assuage my nervous energies until the boy turns safely into the drive. It is a right of passage and one that I believe is best begun early so that he gets as much drive time in familiar places as possible before I blink again and he is off to college or camp or on tour opening for RUSH. I guess if he is on tour, he won’t be driving…maybe mama will get her CDL… just in case she needs to “drive the wheel” again.
