AuburnChick's Adventures

Observe…

That, my friends, is Rooster’s key chain.

I drove “his” car this morning, not paying attention to the key chain until I arrived at work.

I chuckled as I inspected the various items…

 

 

 

Oh sure, it was funny…until…

I took Rooster to an appointment this afternoon.

You see, something magical happened to Rooster over the course of the week.

Ever since we came home with the first car, Rooster had decided that he better get serious about his driving.

He had been practicing…here and there, anyway.  But, he’d never been super-gung-ho about it.

Until this past week.

I took him to one of Podunk’s busiest streets (yes, it’s actually four-lane) and made him navigate some tricky maneuvers (i.e. turn left in one of those barely marked, no turn signal lanes that runs down the center of the road).  He made a couple of three-point turns on smaller roads.

I ran him through all of the “important” skills just to prove to me that he was ready.

He was.

I figured it was time…

It was time for him to make THAT appointment.

I checked him out of school early this afternoon, and off we went.

I could tell he was nervous.  He had not slept well last night, and he still had a stomachache from the lack of sleep.

I think he grew even MORE nervous as he pulled into the DMV’s parking lot.

We said a little prayer that he wouldn’t get the female instructor who is notorious for failing license seekers.

She’s so good at her job that she has bragged, as she’s gotten into cars, that she’s got the highest failure rate of any tester.

Uh huh.

As we looked around, we didn’t see anyone besides her.

Rooster groaned.

Finally, his number was called.

As he walked out the door, he gave me one last look.

It was the look of a lamb being led to slaughter.

My heart lurched.

I had to find a bathroom.

I had drank an entire bottle of water, and I’d had to “go” for quite some time, but there was no way I was letting my baby out of my sight until I absolutely had to.

I prayed as I did my business.

It seems as if I’ve done a lot of praying in bathrooms lately (remember when I took my General Knowledge Test?).

Anyhoo…

I waited.

I worked on my 6th grade lesson plan for next week.

Every few minutes, I would look up to see if he was coming in the door.

Then, I’d return to my book.

Finally, I saw Rooster.

I nervously got up and walked up to him.

He was smiling.

This was a good sign.

Indeed, it was.

He had passed!!

As the lady (same gal who tested him) asked the perfunctory questions for getting a license, I heard him answer with a “Yes, ma’am” this and a “Yes, ma’am” that.

I raised my eyebrows.

We do live in the South, but my children don’t always do what I’ve tried to teach them to do.

I was proud of him.

We had to sit and wait a few minutes while his license printed out.

That’s when he gave me the scoop.

He told me that he had been very nervous (understandable…Chicky had failed her test during her first try…under this lady…before she’d even left the parking lot).

As the lady began asking him driving questions, he answered by saying, “Yes, ma’am” this and “Yes, ma’am” that.  He told me that he’d gone above and beyond the polite factor just to keep her in a good mood.

I think it worked.

He drove us home, quite pleased (and relieved).

A mere sixty minutes later, he was ready for his first solo flight.

He and the Mr. were going to DQ to celebrate, and Rooster was going to help a friend from church move furniture into his house.  Rooster took “his” car so that he could leave straight from the ice cream place.

Just as I did with Chicky, I took photos as he was leaving…

That’s him, following the Mr.

Off he went, happy as a lark.  He was very responsible, even remembering to text me when he arrived at his destination and again when he was about to leave.

He came home much sooner than expected, and you want to know what the first words out of his mouth were?

“Mama, may I go to so-and-so’s house to spend the night?”

You know what that meant, don’t you?

Another solo drive.

Sigh.

I walked him outside, gave him the usual reminders to be careful, and then I watched him drive away.

I had a few tears this time.

I cannot believe that I will never have one of these days again.

My baby bird has sprouted wings.

It is very bittersweet.

Meanwhile, I can smile because, though he may be making small forays around town, he’s not quite finished growing up.

His key chain is proof of that.

Filed under: children | Tagged: childrearing, raising children |