Road Rules

Last night I showed up to the neighboring pool where The Girl and her high school swim team practices for a Parents' meeting about the last month or so of  their (a realllllly long) season.  The regional championship meet is the end of this month.  The semester changes on the 17th.  That adds some trouble to practicing when you no longer have a class.  But I digress....

I showed up straight from another meeting--that one for Young Women--so The Girl had driven herself over.  As I parked and got out of the car, she drove past me with with her friend and teammate (Miss M) riding shotgun.

I shouldn't otherwise be upset about this, as The Girl was helping our Miss M's parents--who were running behind from another city to make it to the parents' meeting as well--and picking her up and giving her a ride is a nice, charitable thing to do.

But it was not legal!

She has only had her license since August 1st.  By the state's graduated licensing law, as I understand it, she is not allowed to drive anyone except family until she has had her license for six months.  For her then, that means, not until Feb 1st.  She is one month off.

Frankly I have rather liked that she can take The Boy around wherever he needs to go, or he can go with her when she wants to go some place.  And I think it is wise to keep a car load of friends out until she has a little more experience under her belt.  I can see the advantage of this kind of thinking.

We had a little run in with this before, just after school began when The Girl drive a carload of swim team members to the trail head for a dry-land practice hike.  We talked to her then and she promised she would be better about obeying the law.

I'd be happier if she would just obey us.

Another friend, who doesn't have her license yet--but her older sister does and has driven friends around for a while--continues to tell The Girl that the "real law" says you can drive friends if it is for school or church.  But our family law says "NO" to anyone but family for six months.  That defiance from her friend(s) bothers me as I see it as disrespect for my job as her parent.

Maybe I am just too high-strung about this.  After all, I got my license on my 16th birthday and drove friends to the movies that night.  A whole car load of friends.  On the freeway.  In a fast (but ugly) car.  We all survived. 

But I wasn't the mom in that case.   And that makes all the difference.