Sweet Sixteen!

This past Sunday, I became the proud parent of a 16 year old!  It’s hard for me to believe that my son is now 16 years old.  I still remember the day I brought him home from the hospital.  He was so tiny, so cute, and so precious.  He depended upon me for everything.  My how the time has changed!

I have watched this little boy grow into a teenager.  He has a wonderful sense of humor and he is my sweet son with a big loving heart.  I am amazed at how independent he is at his age.  But then again, he is a product of Brooklyn … kids here are born independent.  It just a New York thing.

Anyway, now that he is 16, you know what he wants to do … drive!  HE wants ME to teach him how to drive.  This kid really thinks that I am going to teach him how to drive!  Can you believe it?  When he asked me to teach him, I was confused.  In my mind I was thinking, “Dude, you take the train to school every day.  Even if you were to get your driver’s license, you’re still taking the train to school.  You would have to leave an hour and a half earlier if you drove just to find a parking space near school.  And really, its not like there’s a free parking lot next to the school.  And not only that, would you even remember where you parked the car?”  In my mind, I saw him trying to impress some pretty girl and/or his friends.  I could see that kid wasting the gas that he didn’t pay for, driving his friends all around Brooklyn.  Did he really think I was going to teach him how to drive?  I don’t think so!

Now, I will admit, sometimes, when I come home from work, I don’t feel like moving the minivan and the thought does cross my mind of how nice it would be if my son could just move this van for me when he gets home from school.  Then I wouldn’t have to do it.  But shortly after that, another thought pops into my head, “Would he really just move the van to the other side of the street, or would he go for a ride?  After all, its not like I would be at home to see it if he did.”  I can just see it now, my son driving the minivan … blasting Drake, or some other rapper as loud as the speakers will let him.  I can only imagine what my poor retired neighbors would think once they heard the unedited version of the rap music my son likes to listen to.  But then again, you never know.  Maybe they like Drake too.

So, when he asked about lessons, what I said out loud was, “You can’t even remember what I told you to do 5 minutes ago.  How are you going to drive a car?”  He just laughed and told me that it wasn’t the same thing.  No, you're right.  Its not exactly the same thing, but they both have to do with your attention span.  Now I appreciate his eagerness.  After all, I remember turning 16 and wanting to learn how to drive too.  But I was different.  I was much more mature than he is at this stage in his life.  And besides, I grew up in Connecticut.  We didn’t have a subway system and my mother was ready for me to get my license because she wanted me to drive my younger brother around.  I honed my driving skills taking my brother to baseball practice, football practice, games, and by driving him on his paper route in the winter because my mother thought it was too cold for him to walk.

Anyway, I am not ready for this kid to drive.  And if you knew him, you wouldn’t be ready for him to drive either. 

​If you have kids, they will be teenagers soon.  Get ready!  One day they’re going to want to drive.

​Until then … Consider Yourself Warned!