And she's off!

Yesterday we hit the DMV--the one in Draper because we would face that Point of the Mountain construction on our hands and knees if it meant going to the Draper DMV.  That place is Disneyland and all the other DMV I've ever been to are those little carnivals that get set up in a parking lot.

Emma passed her test awhile ago, but she finally had logged enough hours to get her license.  (Emma needing to log driving hours was one of the greatest things about this summer.  She did all my errands with me so she could drive.)

We got the license, which is a Big Deal.  I didn't make her pose holding her license and giving a thumbs up by the DMV sign like another mother did with her daughter, but I recognize what it means:  freedom for both of us and added responsibility for Emma.

When we got home, she wanted to drive Mark to the store.  "Sure," I said.  The first time Braeden and Emma drove out on Braeden's first solo voyage, it felt momentous and scary and weird to have them drive away.  This was barely a blip.  Maybe it's because there are so many other Big Deals happening around here that I can only get worked up about one or two at a time.

Maybe it's because Emma is Emma.  She can be snarky like any world class teenage girl but she can be counted on implicitly.  I'm glad I'll have her to take care of me in my dotage.  She already pretty much keeps me in line.  (Maybe my dotage has arrived.) I couldn't figure out how to pay her online fees for school and she figured it out.  She walked me through getting all the info sent to the car insurance agent we needed to add her to the insurance.  I handed her all of the school registration stuff to read and distill for me into exactly what I need to know.  (When confronted with too many words not getting to the point, I stop reading.  It's amazing I've made it through life as far as I have with this stop reading habit of mine. I am not a fan of too much information.)

I am, however, a fan of Emma.