I gave my son a lift
On a Friday evening a week or so ago, I was relaxing in the living room watching some rubbish on TV. My younger kids were with their Dad for the weekend and my eldest son was in another room with a couple of his friends. It was about 9:30 and I overheard one of my son's friends on his phone trying to book a taxi with no success. So I called my son into the living room and asked him where they were trying to get to and whether they would like a lift. Consequently, I drove the 3 of them 4 miles out of town to the party they wanted to go to.
If I was telling this story to my friends or family, it would be the biggest 'non-story' of the year. They wouldn't get why I thought they would be the slightest bit interested in it.
However, I know that you guys will get it. This was MASSIVE for me. My son is 20 years old and I have never given him a lift anywhere in the evening before - certainly not at 9:30 at night. I have never been legally fit to drive at 9:30 at night.
Ferrying my son around after about 7 in the evening (and that threshold got earlier and earlier as the years went by) just never happened. I wanted my glasses of wine when I got back from work and nothing and no-one was going to interfere with it. Any delay in feeding my addiction would result in me being so ungracious and begrudging about giving him a lift that he stopped asking.
Being able and willing and happy to give my son and his friends that lift, I hope, it the start of something good.