driving nightmares!

Recently I had a life changing experience… my 16 year old daughter driving. It’s not that she’s a bad driver, but it’s also not that she’s a good driver. She has a stick shift and those are really hard to drive.

I wish the following was a fictional story, but sadly it’s all fact.

She had to go to work and I thought it would be a great idea to let her drive her own car…. (have I mentioned to you that I’m not all that smart?)

I backed out… because it’s hard to back out of a driveway… right? After I backed out and got “too close” (at least 5 feet) to Kid1’s car she tried to get it to move without rolling… but as we moved dangerously close to Kid1’s beloved Honda she was screaming and I was still relatively calm. She got out, I got out, moved her car to a better spot… Anyway…. We got going after a few tries and sailed straight through the first stop sign, which should have been my first clue. When leaving our neighborhood you have to turn out into traffic… and as she rolled, and the car sputtered and died over and over all as we're rolling into the street, I started to feel a REAL panic coming on.

I could not even help myself; I was starting to completely freak out. At this point, I thought that she probably needed some reassurance, so in my high-pitched-dog-whistle-pure- panic-voice I shout and I DO MEAN shout… “w-w-w-well….. your d-d-d-d-doing gah-gah-gah REAT honey” (did I also tell you I have a REALLY bad stammer when I’m DYING of fear?) She laughed because as you know “I’m so funny” when in fear for my life… as other cars whizzed by I just covered my eyes.

She finally made it, she got out on the relatively big road with her stick shift and I was paralyzed in horror when I realized the next turn is a MAJOR intersection with only a stop sign… I mean it’s all judgment and gas here ... and she, as a new driver, has a little less good judgment and little more of “meh…. I’ll probably make it” attitude… (I need to interject here that she drives a HONDA CRX- VERY small car). As we glide into the stop at the VERY busy road ahead, I honestly thought I would throw up. I kept telling myself that we would probably be okay ….

to be continued….