Drivers Ed

Yikes! Mallory is at her first day of Driver's Ed, and I am having a hard time believing that she is actually old enough to drive. There's no doubt she's taller than me, has travelled miles & miles from home without me and even though her room is usually a mess & doesn't reflect it, is really very responsible, but seriously...driving?!?!

It's not like I didn't know this day was coming. In fact, I think the countdown began when she was 14 1/2, so there's certainly NO surprise here. I am actually excited for her to have the opportunity to drive - just can't believe that it's that time already. I researched online, made lots of phone calls & talked to friends who have older kids and found the "perfect" drivers ed course for Mallory. It is by no means the cheapest (just the opposite in fact), but driving is such a huge priviledge. We definitely want her to be as prepared and ready as possible, and it's probably a good idea for someone else to "undo" all of our bad driving habits she's observed over the years.

The next job is to find a car suitable for her to drive. We use to think that something small that gets great gas mileage would be the ideal car, but after sharing the road with so many suvs and big cars, there's something to be said for equalling the odds. So we are in search of something bigger than a compact car - older, cheap but in good running condition. I wonder if there is such a vehicle?

So for those of you who live near us, we'll let you know when Mallory finishes the classroom part of drivers ed and hits the streets. :)

...and this is the car Mallory wishes she could be driving...really!!!