I am sitting at my desk, filling the time as I wait for my college freshman to finish the longest drive he has made solo.
In case you were wondering, no, you will never be ready for that first trip. Or I wasn’t at least…
The summer between junior and senior year of high school seems to be the summer of road trips. Most kids in our area have their license, a job, and a car. They have a new found freedom and spending money burning a hole in their pocket. We live a few hours from the beach, the mountains, as well as a large amusement park. Pick a direction, and there is something fun to do.
Naturally, they are looking forward to packing their friends in a car and heading to the beach.
I waited with baited breath to see if my kids were going to ask to take a road trip with their friends.
Spoiler alert. They did. I wasn’t ready. I let them go anyway.
I knew that this was not only probably developmentally appropriate for them to want to spread their wings, but it was good for them.
YES. There are a thousand and one things that could go wrong.
Trust me. If I could keep my kids in bubble wrap forever, I would.
There are life skill learning opportunities that you can not manufacture for your kids to learn and gain with you, alongside them.
They have to run into situations on their own and solve them independently in order to grow and mature.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t just give my kids a high-five and send them on their way.
I felt like I had a million life lessons to teach and only seconds to blurt them all out.
I bought fun beach toys, snacks, drinks, a beach tent, a blanket, you name it. They rolled their eyes, packed it in the car, and they were off.
I thought I was going to throw up.
I smiled, took a picture of the kids by the car in their swimsuits and sunglasses, and gave them a hug. It was just a day trip. They would be home by the time the sun went down.
It took me everything not to think about them all day. I peeked at Life 360 a few times to see what they were up to and had them text when they were on their way home.
Then I tried to distract myself as I am now waiting for my son to get home once again.
They learn so many lessons and gain such independence when they branch out on their own.
Have your kids start with shorter trips and build up to longer ones. You have a short window between when they get their license and when they leave the house. You want them to have distance driving experience before they are on their own and decide to drive eight hours to go see a friend for a long weekend.
