Goodbye to Carlines

My baby boy turned 16 on July 11. For his birthday, we bought him a sports car, a black Camaro with black leather seats. This thing is absolutely beautiful (just like my son). A couple weeks later, he got his drivers license and as he took off on his first drive all by himself, I had a mini break down.

It hit me that I don't know exactly the date or time, but very recently I had experienced my last ever car line! I've been doing car lines for many years now- school, sports and various camps, etc. I have sat in my big SUV waiting on kids in car lines in the cold, in the heat, in the rain, in the morning, in the night. I have learned to bring a book or a lap top or an iPad. I have played games or watched Netflix or talked on the phone and waited and waited and waited. How did I miss that the last time was the last time?

Suddenly it feels like my role as a mom has vastly changed. There were days when I got really tired of being the "taxi". I even laughed when I saw bumper stickers on the back of mini vans that said, "swim taxi" and thought about getting one. But I am no longer the taxi driver for my kids. They are both licensed drivers who do not need me to get them where they're going. Who knew that might make me sad? Who knew that deep inside I actually cherished those times in the car at 5:00 a.m. as I took them to swim practice. Tired and barely functioning, it was time together even if we weren't talking. And speaking of talking, my son is so busy all the time that the only time we ever talked was the afternoons when I picked him up from swim practice to race home for dinner. The first thing he always asked as soon as he got in the car was, "what's for dinner?" Then if I was lucky, he would open up and tell me a little about his day.

Now that he's driving will he ever tell me about his day again? Boys are so different than girls. My daughter texts and calls and we go to movies together or lunch. Will my son be so grown up now that I never see him again? Goodness, I'm missing CARLINE!!!

OK, I'll be fine. School starts in a couple of weeks and I'll be nervous but happy to send him off to Junior year in his own car. Thankfully I believe in prayer or I'd go crazy with worry. I'll miss sitting in the hot car in car line at the high school, but as I enter the new season of my life as a mom, I'll be grateful. I have amazing kids who have grown into young adults. So, goodbye carlines and hello to my new season in life as the luckiest mom on the planet.