Impressed

Yaya got her L license yesterday.

Night before, she filled the form ( that reminds me, I didn’t have to sign anything, I thought govt would want the parents’ consent), collected all the documents she needed to take, asked me for the money ( both for sitting the test and for the license).

After school, she took the train to the nearest place where she could sit for the test.

She passed the test, paid the fees, got the license and then called me to ask if I could pick her up.

I am impressed by the fact that she could do all these on her own and didn’t require my assistance. I think of all the things I am to do as a parent, teaching children to be self reliant is the most important thing to do. I was temped to sit with her and go through the sample questions for the test. I wanted to check and see if she took all the documents that are needed. I was worried that if she loses her passport, she might not be able to go to Mexico ( too little time to get a new passport) and wanted to tell her to be extra careful with her passport. I was worried about letting her carry so much money to school. ( 22 $ for the test and 150$ for the license) In the end, I took a deep breath and told myself, she is 16 and not a baby anymore. She will be fine.

And now the fun starts. When I reached my street , she asked me ” mom, can I drive rest of the way”. Much as I wanted to tell her, No, not in my car, I couldn’t break her spirit few hours after she got her license. So I let her. The road is absolutely straight, yet she missed hitting my neighbours letter box by a fraction of a cm.  She needs 100 hours on the road and I have to sit with her when she drives to get that 100 hours. She wants to drive to school every morning with me sitting beside her. I honestly don’t think my heart and my car will survive.

14 thoughts on “Impressed

  1. Good luck Sara. I remember getting my learner permit in the DMV office in shivamogga, i lied about my age and had a license when I was 16. at that time there were no need to provide birth certificate. Later when I got my license in a different state, it was different. any ways i grew up in a small town and had been driving our car since i was 12, when my dad taught me. I couldnt drive where the cops were, but it was fine to do short trips near my house

    • Ra: My son would weep bitter tears if he knew you were driving since the age of 12. I allowed Yaya to drive in my friend’s ranch ( no trees, no nothing) when she was 15 and told my son he could do the same next year when he turns 15.

  2. Forgive me for questioning you but why is your IP address located Mumbai? I was under the impression that you lived in Australia?

    • Acacia: forgive me for asking, what exactly is your problem? You did a bit of sleuthing, checked the WHOIS registry and noticed the blog is hosted in India and wants to question my veracity? Is there a law somewhere that says that I must host my blog in Australia?

  3. Congrats!! Best to get a used really old car! and warn neighbors to keep off the sidewalks!!;)

    Great news..it is lovely to see kids come into their own!!

      • Happens.. I too learned driving in my dads new car.. and i still remember how much he shouted at me for every small mistakes.. but now i realise, he was more concerned about me rather than his car.. yeah it hurts to see if you are caring your car much.. but imagine the pride when you sit next to your girl while she is driving 🙂

  4. My 4 year old really wants to be 16 soon, so he can drive. Getting a license and driving was no where in my mind when I was 4. He has already decided that he is going to drive a Honda. Considering how the last 4 years just flew by, before I know he is going to be 16.

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