16 ain't what it used to be

So Son #1 turned 16 a few weeks ago. As much as the thought of him driving has woken me from a deep sleep in a cold sweat, his lack of interest in it is concerning as well. I know it's not what it used to be. I remember as a Freshman seeing upperclasman walking around with car keys and feeling as if that was going to be the greatest feeling in the world. FREEDOM! Independence!  As soon as I had my license ( after the second try) my brown Omega was filled up with girlfriends heading off to a high school sporting event. Alex will have to wait a full year after getting it to enjoy such freedom.  And I have to wait a full 6 months after he gets it to have him help drive his brothers around. Don't get me wrong, there are few things more tragic than hearing about teenagers dying due to poor driving, and I think the state has a well thought out graduated plan on this. I just wish the boy would want to start the clock running atleast.

I got a job 3 days after I turned 16 and wasn't without one until it morphed into the non-cash return of motherhood. Alex works one Saturday a week for four hours, he seems ok with that. As OK as he is in not going for his learners permit.

Is this a good thing? Will, when we look back and see how this generation turned out, we wonder where all the excitement of getting older and more independent went? Will we see where we went off course?

I had to pay my own way, as Alex will have to, but somehow even though a Hershey bar was 20 cents back then and it is a $1 now ( I know some people use bread and milk for these examples, I just being honest about my knowledge base), the fact that my insurance was doable at $600 a year and his seems insurmountable at $1300 is very real. Well I guess when you are only bring home 24 dollars a week, it is.

All 16 this year, none interested in driving anytime soon

He will work more, once summer comes, but his first job is school. I cannot image him putting in hours elsewhere too. Were we all better at time management? Is school harder? Or is the payoff the thousands of dollars in scholarship he will hopefully get for having these rocking grades?

My nephew who turned 16 a few weeks ago is ok with his parents driving him around too, and my niece, what with her 7 weeks of summer sleep away camp and 2 plays she is in before then, cannot find the time or interest to pursue it either.

And is this just another one of those times I have to follow my own advise and " just shut up"?