Jackie Hyland: Teen in the driver's seat

I have heard it a million times over the years! Enjoy your girls while they are little. The time will fly by and, before you know it, they'll be ..... driving, going to college, getting married.

Well, here I am! I have reached one of those milestones. My oldest daughter finally took driver's ed this summer.

She is a little behind, in part because of our move here from New York and some procrastination! To be honest, I did not push her to take driver's ed! I thought there will be plenty of time for that. I did not want to rush her. I wanted her to be ready, comfortable and confident.

Driving is a big step. I feel too many young people get behind the wheel unprepared. There are so many distractions nowadays from the radio to the mobile phone and texting.

I learned to drive in Ireland on narrow country roads in a stick shift car. Then I came to America and re-learned how to drive on city streets in an automatic car. I never took drivers ed, there was no such thing. I was older though and I passed my driver's test the first time.

I think driver's ed classes should be longer. Maybe it should be a whole semester long! After all, teenagers spend hours sitting in classrooms and learning subjects they will never use on a daily basis, but most will drive every day!

It will be another year before my daughter can get her full license and that's just fine by me! Until then, I will make sure she will practice, practice, practice!

And then it will be onto the next milestone ... college!

Jackie is the mom of a tween and a teen. She is an anchor for WRAL-TV. Find her here on Go Ask Mom monthly. Click here to follow her on Facebook.