Tony posted a slice the other day that made me think of all the things I was seriously not ready for as my girls were growing up. One of the things I was not ready for was them being behind the wheel of a car driving solo (or worse, with a group of friends sure to distract them). This post recalls one of those car moments that really stands out.
It was a Friday night, and the next day was an ACT retake for our youngest daughter, Carrie. We knew it would be a fairly early night for her as she would want to be rested for the next morning. But, when I got a phone call from her at 9 PM Friday night saying she was headed home from hanging out with her friends, I was pretty surprised. I chalked it up to her appreciating the seriousness of what these ACT results might do for her in terms of possible scholarship monies. I was so impressed with this new-found maturity on her part.
About five minutes later, Carrie walked in our back door. I was sitting at the kitchen table, with my back to the door, working on some type of schoolwork. I heard Carrie say, "I need to talk to you," and the next thing I knew a very dented and scraped-up side view mirror was plopped down on the kitchen table as a conversation starter. Turns out she had just sideswiped a parked car. That's right, you heard me correctly... a PARKED car, and this side view mirror was just part of the damage she'd done to her car. Don't even get me started on what she did to the other car!
Needless to say, after an evening of having to talk to the police, coming home to have her parents yell at her for being irresponsible, many tears (both hers and ours), and being grounded from driving for life (or so it seemed to her), her ACT retake scores had nowhere to go but down.
As always, thanks to Stacey and Ruth at Two Writing Teachers for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge!
Oh no! That's awful. I could just picture her plopping the mirror onto the table. How dramatic. You have to give her some credit for style and presentation, a lot of kids would have just hid it.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! We have had several of these at our house! I feel like I need a second job to pay for their insurance!
ReplyDeleteOh yikes! I am so not ready for my boys to be behind the wheel. I have seven and ten years left respectively. Love her whipping out the mirror, I can absolutely picture that.
ReplyDeleteWell, first, I'm glad she's safe & okay, despite the mess of the police & the insurance & the drama I'm sure you didn't want on a Friday night. I think those early driving days were some of the most worrisome times parenting. It's just hard to let them go out into that big bad world of craziness. But, since she's safe, maybe this is a good lesson learned & she'll take better care next time. I liked the way you 'eased' us into this, & then the mirror plopped on the table! great & now what!!
ReplyDeleteI guess the good news is that she was honest with you! Poor thing . . . a lesson learned, I hope! Maybe another ACT retake opportunity???
ReplyDeleteOh, not a good day. Hugs to you. I think Linda is right though; this experience may make your daughter a little more careful next time. Thank goodness no one was hurt. A glass of wine might work right now. :)
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