It'll be a few years until I need to worry about my son being out there on the road, driving, but he'll have a hard time being patient waiting for that day to come, I have a feeling.
Just the other day, as I was sitting behind four or five cars at a red light, he calls from the back seat, "Mom, you're not driving the right way." I looked up to make sure I was on the correct side of the road (just recently he and I were driving on the incorrect side of the road - but that's another story).
As the light turned green, I started to move forward behind the other cars. I was still trying to figure out what he had been referring to, when a second later he yells, "Both of your hands need to be on the steering wheel."
I took a quick glance back at him and smiled. "You're right, Dominic," I said, "I was driving wrong way."
Instead of telling me it was OK - as he's said before when I have admitted to doing something wrong, he says to me, in a very matter-of-fact voice, "I'll show you how to drive."
I will be a nervous wreck once he actually does get behind the wheel for the first time. Although by then, there will hopefully be some new technology that will allow me to have a GPS tracking system on the car so that I can make sure he hasn't been run off the road or fallen asleep at the wheel - or worse - lying about where he is.
Thinking back to my own years and the first years of freedom, it was much different then. My mom was excited to learn that I purchased a pager for myself. (Note to self: Must check to see if people - besides doctors - still use them.)
My mom would page me when I was out too late or past my curfew or didn't come home the night before. I can't say that having a pager made her life any easier. I would either ignore the page and not call her, or call her back and casually explain why I just had to spend the night at my boyfriend's house - again.
Being young and having freedom is exciting. It's just as exciting - if not anxiety-inducing - for parents.
I don't usually think that far ahead, but when it comes to the safety of our children, what a parent wouldn't do...
What do you think? Is this GPS Tracking System too invasive? Do your teenagers have the right to total independence when they get their license to drive?
Just the other day, as I was sitting behind four or five cars at a red light, he calls from the back seat, "Mom, you're not driving the right way." I looked up to make sure I was on the correct side of the road (just recently he and I were driving on the incorrect side of the road - but that's another story).
As the light turned green, I started to move forward behind the other cars. I was still trying to figure out what he had been referring to, when a second later he yells, "Both of your hands need to be on the steering wheel."
I took a quick glance back at him and smiled. "You're right, Dominic," I said, "I was driving wrong way."
Instead of telling me it was OK - as he's said before when I have admitted to doing something wrong, he says to me, in a very matter-of-fact voice, "I'll show you how to drive."
I will be a nervous wreck once he actually does get behind the wheel for the first time. Although by then, there will hopefully be some new technology that will allow me to have a GPS tracking system on the car so that I can make sure he hasn't been run off the road or fallen asleep at the wheel - or worse - lying about where he is.
Thinking back to my own years and the first years of freedom, it was much different then. My mom was excited to learn that I purchased a pager for myself. (Note to self: Must check to see if people - besides doctors - still use them.)
My mom would page me when I was out too late or past my curfew or didn't come home the night before. I can't say that having a pager made her life any easier. I would either ignore the page and not call her, or call her back and casually explain why I just had to spend the night at my boyfriend's house - again.
Being young and having freedom is exciting. It's just as exciting - if not anxiety-inducing - for parents.
That's why, when I heard about this new 
system, I wanted to know more. Will this be something that is going to be even more technologically advanced when the time comes for me to really have a use for it?
I don't usually think that far ahead, but when it comes to the safety of our children, what a parent wouldn't do...
What do you think? Is this GPS Tracking System too invasive? Do your teenagers have the right to total independence when they get their license to drive?
