Growing Up
By Melanie Lewis
Someday your kids will grow up and change places with you to become the driver! Someday has arrived. I can hardly believe it. It seemed they were young and cute forever. They are now teenagers complete with teenage notions and attitudes. One of the rites of passage is driving. Some kids can’t wait and some go in with great trepidation. Mine fell in the middle of the spectrum, until time came to sit behind the wheel. I couldn’t tell if he was really excited or really nervous.
He had 30 hours of classroom presentation at school. He was versed in rules. Now was time for the rubber-to-hit- the-road. Excuse me, but I couldn’t help using the saying. Arms locked on the wheel in proper 10-2 position, Mom’s Driving Academy began. Class began in a nearly empty church parking lot. This reduced chances for collisions. But as we drove along, suddenly many seemingly innocuous objects were somewhat concerning. I’m talking about lines on the road or lampposts ensconced in huge concrete berms. It seemed as though this was the first time he had actually taken notice of pavement.
Controls, adjustments and gears came next. It was methodical and slow, but we managed a full lap around the perimeter. There was starting and stopping and moving the steering wheel back and forth. This concluded of lesson one. 20 minutes. We visited that parking lot for a month of Sundays with same approach of slow turns, parking between the lines and exiting and entering the parking lot into a side road. We felt we were ready for more challenging conditions. On the way home from the grocery store we cut through a quiet neighborhood and switched so he could drive. All was well until sirens approached. A firetruck! We hadn’t covered how to pull over for emergency vehicles. I said, “Slow down and pull over.” “Over” just happened to be on the sidewalk. At least we were over. I need to be more precise on what I mean by “over”.
Next at the “Academy” were directions. He was driving home from a function and the road was closed, due to power line work. I asked him to pretend I wasn’t there and what would he do? He said he’d get out his phone and look it up, but since I was there I should just tell him. Another time I gave him an address he couldn’t figure out how to look for addresses and drive at the same time. I told him to turn at the driveway after the barbershop, but he was going too fast to turn. Once beyond, he needed to learn to position himself to turn around. We’re only 9 hours into learning. I’d say we have a ways to go before he’ll be a card-carrying member of the auto club. Parents, pack your patience.