My sixteen year old daughter got behind the wheel of our car for this first time yesterday.\u00a0 My 48 year old self is still in shock and disbelief, but full of pride.<\/p>\n
It’s funny, as parents, we seem to think we will never be ready for these milestones that creep up, but when they happen, we realize we are more prepared than we realize or give ourselves credit for.<\/p>\n
I don’t know how it happens. I’m not sure how time flies by so quickly. But it does.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t seem that long ago that she was still little and needed me to do things for her.<\/p>\n
Now she is grinning because she just accomplished something she never thought she could do. Drive a car.<\/p>\n
My daughter is a lot like me. She didn’t want to get her license and convinced herself she didn’t need to learn how to drive a car.<\/p>\n
I was 18 when I got my license.\u00a0 I was so scared.\u00a0 So I know the fear and I also know and realize how much it can hold you back from the very thing you might really love.<\/p>\n
So we got in the car yesterday, and she drove.\u00a0 Step by step.\u00a0 Getting comfortable in the seat. Adjusting mirrors. Phone AWAY and out of reach.\u00a0Seatbelt.\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Check. Check.<\/p>\n
It was a moment I never thought I would be prepared for.\u00a0 Sitting in the passenger side of the car, with my daughter at the wheel.\u00a0 It’s so hard to let our kids go.\u00a0 To let our kids grow their wings and fly. Without us.\u00a0 Little by little.\u00a0 They get more freedom.<\/p>\n
16 years gone in the blink of an eye it seems.\u00a0 And we think as parents we live for those first moments – the first steps, first words.\u00a0 But those first moments never stop.\u00a0 So many firsts. First day of school.\u00a0 First day of high school.\u00a0 First boyfriend.\u00a0 First job.\u00a0 First time driving a car.<\/p>\n
We think as parents we won’t be ready for all these firsts, but so far, every first has been amazing for us as parents and I am so excited about all the firsts still to come.<\/p>\n
I just wish sometimes we could slow it down, just a little.\u00a0 I wish there was a pause button.\u00a0 To really let these moments linger.<\/p>\n
Cheers to all the parents, and all those firsts.<\/p>\n
We got this.<\/p>\n
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