Sweet! Sixteen!

It was 1994 and the Friday before Labor Day that I began a journey called parenthood.  This year, on the Thursday before Labor Day I began another journey -- teaching a teenager to drive. EEK! 

Rewinding just a smidge, let me say that Thursday was the Turkey's 16th birthday. For weeks, and even months, I had been fostering the notion that I was dead set against letting him drive any time soon. Heck, I would have been delighted if the Turkey moved to a bustling metropolis and neglected to get a driver's license until, oh, some time around the responsible age of 29. Just sayin'.

So I am not sure what possessed me to let him get his learner's permit on the anniversary of his birth, but I did. Not only that, but I planned it as a big, huge, mongo birthday surprise for the Turkey.

I picked him up from school on Thursday with an iced caramel latte in hand (his fave) and as we were leaving the school nonchalantly said, "our first stop is home where you'll need to change your shirt and shave, because you don't want to look like Shaggy in your driver's license photo." The Turkey nearly fell out of the car he was so surprised! Heck, so was I! It took him a moment to recover, to be able to speak, to be able to breathe, much less smile and acknowledge his glee. And glee it was!

Here he is taking the test. The final score was ... drum roll, please ... 20/20! Hooray!

He had passed the test, signed the forms, and we were waiting for the license to print. This is one seriously happy Turkey!

Success!

As we left the MVA the Turkey said his face hurt from smiling so much. Aw! He was super surprised. JUST the birthday I had hoped for! But the surprises were far from done ...

This was his first time behind the wheel. We found an empty parking lot and I coached him through the first 20 minutes of parking lot driving. It was simple stuff -- getting the feel for the car, how to put it in gear, operating the pedals, wipers, lights, turn signals, etc. He did well. I did well. We all did well.

Next up: dinner with the fam. The Turkey regaled everyone with the tale of getting his license. We laughed. We talked. We laughed some more. We ate. Then the Turkey opened his presents which included a check for Driver's Ed. Yowser! He was super surprised at this because I had told him the Driver's Ed schedules weren't compatible with his school schedule. Liar, liar, pants on fire! Again, more broad smiles from the Turkey and more comments about his face hurting.

After the surprise check for Driver's Ed, his next present was a new touch screen phone. It just so happened that the phone is manufactured by Virgin Mobile and, naturally, their logo appears prominently on the packaging. See:

This elicited many comments from the assembled, resulting in my sister becoming embarrassed and turning the same shade as the Turkey's shirt. It was priceless! Needless to say, the phone is now referred to as "The Virgin." Hee hee! :o)

But wait ... there's still more! After dinner the Turkey had the choice of flying or driving. This was a rough choice for him, but he finally settled on driving. We headed to a somewhat empty parking lot, put him behind the wheel again, and talked him through some moves for about 30 minutes. He also got a new book and a video game that he had been "needing." (Really, he had been begging me for it most of the summer.)

After a late night, a happy sleep, and seven hours of school the next day, it was the Turkey's chance to celebrate his birthday with his friends. And where would 16-year-old boys want to go?

Hooters! As the Turkey said, "Two of my favorite things: chicken and breasts!" I just shook my head and paid the tab.

So that was it. A 2-day feast of surprises marking the 16th anniversary of the Turkey's birth. He still says his cheeks are sore, which I take as a great success. Yay!