An unfortunate side effect...

Wednesday, Bird turns 15. She wants to get her learner's permit. I'm unsure of this. What would be the harm in her getting a learner's permit? I mean, I don't have to let her drive or anything. It's just a card with her picture on it like all the other 15 year olds are getting.

But she will want to drive and that scares me. This is the person who was telling me a long involved story while we were driving somewhere one night and stopped dead in the middle, bursting out, "Look! The moon!" She can't reach the pedals. Look up "distracted by shiny objects" in the dictionary and you'll find her smiling face.

So, what do I do?

She wants to get a job. I wonder who will hire her when she is so small and looks so young? How will she run a cash register?

So what do I do?

I worry, that's what I do. I'm a mom. I worry.

And I get her the driver book so she can study it and go take her written test and get her her learner's permit so she can be just like all the other 15 year olds with learner's permits. I don't have to let her drive yet. But she can have the little piece of plastic with her picture on it. Which, in all likelihood, she will lose but it will be a small price to pay for her to be just like all the other 15 year olds.

Because, in the end, she is 15. No matter what else is going on with her, she is 15. She will grow up, graduate from high school, God willing go to college and become whatever she wants to be and I have to stop protecting her some time. She's got to learn to stand, or fall, on her own. The falling part is what I worry about. She's not. She just gets herself back up, dusts herself off and keeps on going.

And I worry.