For quite some time now, my 13 year old daughter Cailey has been alluding to her being able to drive soon! Well, no time like the present, right? So, yesterday as we were about to pull in the driveway, I asked her if she wanted to drive. “Um, sure?!?!” (with my youngest daughter shouting from the backseat with overwhelming hope “can I drive?”) What do you mean, “um, sure??? I remember constantly bugging my mom (at an even younger age) to drive ALL the time.
As she got into the driver’s seat, I told her to buckle up! “What?” she says with confusion…to which I replied, “that’s right, we are going past the stop sign and onto a road with dotted lines!!” Now, I’ve learned this much (same as when they ask you about the “birds and the bees”) don’t get worked up and let nothing phase you…even if they go off the road because they turned too fast and didn’t use the brakes as much as you would have liked them to! If mama stays calm, so will they, and no vehicles will be harmed during the making of memories!
But that’s just it, I need to remember a few things: through all the “curb checks”, deep breathing, and “off-roadin’ ” that may take place; this driving experience and the memories that are being created are a privilege! Even if it is the only way I can get my teenage daughter to laugh and smile!!
I grew up in Wisconsin, the daughter of 2 totally blind parents. No, they did not teach me to drive:-). But they did buy a car for me/the family. It was what we could afford, a 1969 Chrysler Newport, 4 door (even though I grew up in the ’80’s). It was a monster of a car. I was taught how to drive by a couple of family friends who took turns taking me out. As soon as I got my license, I became the family chauffer, but I never left town (very rarely even before I could drive). Just 2 months after getting my license, I drove the family to a church campout…in pitch black night, on unknown, winding, back country roads, in the rain! I was so terrified, I ran over a cat in the road just because I didn’t dare go around it! A fact my sister still reminds me of to this day!!