Do you ever have one of those moments when whatever you are doing pulls you up short and you think - I really am a grown-up now?
It happens to me when I'm driving our two about.We all moan about it, I know; the taxi-ing teenagers seem to require. But underneath it all? I quite like it.
When I was their age there was no one to give me a lift. We walked everywhere, the three of us; and we lived in town so, really, it was okay. But, if I wanted to go anywhere at night, to anything with a late finish, I had to persuade a friend to leave me home. I got pretty good at persuasion. Then I passed my driving test and I was the one with the car. It was my job to deliver my sister to her piano lesson or my brother to his shift at the Hospital Radio. But it still felt a little strange. Most of my friends thought I was very lucky to have a car I could use whenever I wanted. Few of them realised It was simply becasue my mum was no longer able to drive. I was a bit of a car owning fraud.
But now? Now I like to get that call - "Mum, the bus didn't come" or "Mum, hurry up, dancing starts in ten minutes." I'm doing it for real. I'm doing it right. I'm a big girl now.
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| layout has a mix of Amy Tan and October Afternoon and the first of my 365 photo to make it onto a page |
44 comments:
beautiful Sian - a nice splash of yellow too.
I grew up in london so getting around wasn't a problem. Now living in a village with little public transport this is what i'll be doing in a few years from now.
lovely colours! I'd like to feel grown up when I get dressed up for a special occassion, maybe in ten years I'll be close.
Love the sunshiney feel to this page,Sian.
I'm afraid as someone who doesn't like driving,I've never liked ferrying my lot around, I'm really glad DD1 now has a car, and can often be the taxi driver for DD2.
how well I remember that time!!
Very pretty LO and a fun topic Sian! I stopped driving a few years ago and now poor DH has become the taxi driver; I have no doubt we will miss these years when they both go off to Uni (and the same time, agghhhh.....). Wonder if we can bribe them to stay in Dubai!
Great colour combination and I love that little key with the heart cut out :o) Like Jacky, I'm not that keen on driving, but do it when I have to. We live in town, but both children have best friends who live in small villages, down narrow winding lanes!
How refreshing to see a different perspective on being your children's driver. I always felt it an opportunity to catch up with mine; trapped in the car, they had to respond!
I am loving all this sunshine yellow you are bringing to these grey days. Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours.
Lovely layout, the splashes of yellow are fab! My poor hub has to do all the driving, I never got around to learning - something I should do, but the older I get the more scared I get of the whole idea! Have a lovely day x
I know that feeling - the girl I feel inside is not the grown up one that reflects back in the mirror - the one with all those responsibilities. Love the layout bringing some sunshine to a grey day.
I didn't necessarily mind the taxi duties, but now that mine can taxi themselves, I'm liking that better! Maybe I just don't wanna be a grown-up!
Really like your grey and yellow colour scheme, and the large banner - might have to try this! My first bring a 'grown up' moment came when I was about 16 and a lady in a shop referred to me as a 'lady' to her child. I remember being taken aback/very pleased as I was used to being referred to as a 'girl'. Now sometimes I wish I was a girl again!
Learning to drive is on my list for this year (well actually taking and passing a test at least) love the sunshine feeling - very welcome on a grey cold day.
Still occasionally wonder about being grown up, figured it was when I found my parents asking me for help and advice. Sandwich generation...
Aw, this is so sweet, Sian. I remember feeling sad when Carrie got her first car which meant that she could drive herself everywhere instead of counting on me.
Love the layout too!!!
love your LO...a lovely summery feel to it!
Alison xx
Love the banner with the photo! Such a great look! Beautiful colours as usual! That is great that you can scrap some photos from your photo challenge. I love the angle of this photo. Wish I could say that I like driving. If I ever won the lottery, the first thing I would get is a chauffeur. ;)
Gloriously yellow and cheerful, Sian - and glad you're happy about the grown-up bit, though you sound as if you might have had to do quite a bit of growing up quick when you were younger. I hope your siblings appreciated you - and your children do too!
I don't want to be a grown up. When I get old I am going to be an adult. They have all the fun, a special shelf in the newsagents, a special category of films. You don't see that for grown-ups.
When I was a teenager I went everywhere by horse. Not because I am very old but I had a horse or three and so when I went shopping I took a horse. When my kids were small we lived three miles from the village so they had to be taken but when they came into their teens we had moved to the city so they could walk..... strange old life eh?
I love the colours on your layout. What makes me feel grown up is actually cleaning the house - I sometimes stop and think, gosh, I actually own this house, it is mine, not my parents', no one elses it belongs to me and Hugh! It still amazes me!
I know that feeling so well, I still don't feel grown up half the time! Emily is talking of getting her licence next year and that is really scarey because she's my baby and we normally do things together - if she's driving I may feel a bit redundant! ;o) xx
that's such a sweet setiment behind a layout. and of course, the layout is great too - colours, bunting, just the right amount of this and that, in particular, the tale.
I love the photo hanging with the rest of the bunting! I loved carting my kids. It always seemed like I learned more about what was going on in their lives when we were in the car together.
Lovely sentiment & I quite agree! My daughter is at driver's lessons right now, so my days are chauffeur are coming to an end. Beautiful lo!
Nice layout! Grown up stuff for me is paying the electric bill of all things. Paying bills is what grown ups do. All the rest of our bills are on autopay & there is nothing I really need to do with them but the electric bill's due date moves around across an 8 day time frame making regular autopay a challenge. So I have to go to the bank, withdraw the money & then go to the electric company office & pay it in person & the whole process makes me feel very grown up & responsible.
Assuming I'm not two days late because I lost track of when this bill was due
I feel grown up when I make decisions for and about the children and also when my Dad was here the other day, he asked me about some ideas for renovations they'll be undertaking ... how grown up is that?!
Great LO Sian - and wonderful story!
I don`t have children, but I would think I would like to drive them around to where ever it is they wanted to go, but I`m afraid the older I get the less I prefer to drive (I think I may have gotten a speeding ticket yesterday). Perhaps that`s a sign I`m not grown up yet, I might have a bit of a speed problem!
Lovely lo Sian and I love to drive too because it gives me freedom and independence and because when Gracia is home it gives her the same.
Love this LO! So colourful, I wish I could drive, I really need to learn, I'm just sooooo nervous!
Gorgeous LO, as usual!!...& yes, I so get where you're coming from!! I also have no problem ferrying my two around as needed, in my teens I walked, used buses & (gulp!!) hitch-hiked to get where I wanted to be & I would have kittens if I thought my boys were doing that in the times we live in now!!! :)
It is always interesting to me when I read posts and comments about people not having their license or choosing not to drive, of course it's generally from the UK :) Living in the States I cannot imagine not driving. I loved driving the boys bec I found to be true that they really do talk and share things in the confines of the car that they wouldn't otherwise. Sadly, the only times I think "I really am an adult" is when something tragic or sad happens and instead of being shielded from it I have to be fully engaged and dealing with it.
I loved driving Ben about too and now he drives me when I need a taxi! I really love this yellow & grey mix Sian.
Super ray of sunshine on a cold day - I too never seemed to get lifts and was a master of organisation to get home from parties and discos late at night, but I'm not quite so happy to be the taxi driver now - especially when I roll up to fetch my daughter and find half a dozen of her friends' parents also collecting - we need to car pool more!!!
What a great feeling to record!!! And as a "taxi driver" for my kids I do understand it, a little! I love the angle of your photo and the composition of your page!
I have this feeling all the time at the moment. The other day I sent the boy out to the supermarket for bread and milk etc and sat there thinking, wow, I'm grown up! Love the layout colours as well! X
i have never felt gronw-up, maybe one day i will, ;)
Jo xxx
Beautiful layout, I just love your color palette! So relaxing and sophisticated. Since my son is now 27 and has been married for 4 years, I know I am a grown-up, but still sometimes live in denial.
I still think of driving a car much like having babies. A total wonder. I often look at these miserable people in cars and wonder why they are not in awe at themselves and at ME in particular that they are manoeuvring these huge beasts around and controlling them at will. I love it so much :D
It was both a bittersweet moment when DS Henry started driving himself to school - I miss our time together, but I'm glad for the break. I'm glad I still have a bit of time driving his team around.
Rinda
p.a. a moment that made me feel like a grown up was when I bought an ironing board!
Lovely yellow - my favourite colour! And I love the spots too. Great page, Sian!
I also smiled at the sentiment... being "grown up now". It's true that I don't think about it, then suddenly I realise - I am actually a "grown up" now! Sometimes I'm pleased about that, but it's not quite what I imagined when, as little girl, I wished to be Grown Up so I could "do whatever I wanted"!
I know what you mean about the car. I didn't have a car, until I was in my mid-20's. I relied on my friends for lifts to events, meet-ups etc. It was rather wonderful to get my own car; I still get a feeling of enjoyment from offering someone a lift, because I have my own car now!
What a wonderful perspective on a chore that so many complain about!
I'm always still shocked when I have to make a grown up decision lol. I really like this layout, an the way you've photographed your car. You really choose a good angle for both story and photo :)
You are so right! I feel that even now and my young are still too young to be calling from anywhere. I love your bunting here.
I always looked forward to the day when my teens could drive. It definitely made my life easier. But I must say, now that I'm driving my teen-grandkids around, I love that time with them. They grow up so fast! The only thing that drives me nuts---and hasn't changed with teens---they change their plans 3,000 times!
The colours on this look super Sian. So nice and cheerful. I love the addition of the key with the heart in it - so appropriate for your story.
One of things I most enjoyed about my daughter to and fro was the conversations we had. There was always a different sense about them, more honest sharing perhaps than other times.
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