Paw Prints and Permits

Well, it finally happened. My 15 year old got his drivers permit. I know from experience that the time will now began to fly by at a neck breaking pace and before you know it.... he too will be flying from my nest. Preparations of my heart began years ago, but I know that all of the preparation in the world won't keep little cracks at bay once that house is finally quiet of heavy metal christian music. LOL! Oh well, it's all good. Anywho.... I thought I'd let him drive me to Nana's (which is right around the corner), the other day. Actually I was going to walk my dog over there but thought hey, he can just drive me. Since I already had Sailor Girl collared up and she was anxious to get on our way I figured she could go along for the ride. There was just one.... well several problems with that idea. Problem #1 is, she gets really anxious during car rides and wants to sit in your lap. I figured I could solve this problem by sitting in the back with her so maybe she would be a little more at ease. Problem #2 is, she is really the wrong size for the car, the wrong size for my lap, pretty much the wrong size for anything other than being saddled up for a ride. If the record for stuffing people into a VW Beetle  is 19 (they were bankers so they had unusually large heads), then I should be able to get all of Sailor Girl into my Chrysler. I got in the back seat first and amazingly she wasn't too skittish about going in. We did have a hard time getting her tail to stay inside the car while we shut the door.... It kept wanting to fly out. Problem #3 was, my Son couldn't see anything in the rear view mirror, nor could he see anything out the back window because from floor to ceiling there was nothing but dog (with a little bit of Momma squished in). Needless to say we did manage to get to Nana's and back in one piece. I have several paw print bruises but I'm used to those, and my son has decided it's more fun to drive with just Daddy in the car since Mom's mind is always going in several directions at once. That's fine with me. I taught our daughter to drive and after that I pretty much feel like I've paid my parenting dues and now it's Dad's turn. Like I said, it's all good, but it's all going too fast.