My nerves are shot.
My 15-year old started driving this week. She is going to be the death of me. She has a tendency to drift to the right. I can handle that except when there's a huge semi to her right and she has closed to twelve inches before she corrects herself.
Of course she thinks her dad is over-reacting. At least this morning I was vindicated somewhat as she drifted far enough to the right to hit the grooves on the shoulder. And I didn't even "freak out." I calmly reminded her that she drifts to the right. Of course, when she tried to squeeze past a car that was taking its time turning out of her lane without even taking her foot off the gas, it was time for Dad to "freak out" again.
She does stuff that people who have been driving for a while do on a regular basis. Problem is, even for someone with decades of driving experience, it's really not a smart thing to do. For a teenager who has been driving less than a week...HELL NO. So far she has managed to navigate successfully, but, oh my hell, it scares the bejeezus out of me.
January 16th, 2008 - 13:19
When I was learning to drive, my mom made an abortive attempt to teach me that ended with her screaming “Stop!!” whenever I made a mistake. Fortunately, my dad had steadier nerves, although he wasn’t nearly as patient.
One time, when I kept killing the car at an intersection, he started yelling at me for letting the clutch up too fast, and I kept insisting that I wasn’t, I was being as gentle as humanly possible. Without a word he got out, walked around to the driver’s side and took the wheel. I was kind of pissed at him for that, especially when it turned out that we were both right: I WAS being gentle, but I also had the car in third gear.
I went home for Christmas last month and ended up being driven by my seventeen- and my eighteen-year-old sisters, both of whom had been too young to drive when I had last seen them. That was a terrifying experience, especially since in my mind, they’re still thirteen and fourteen years old.
January 17th, 2008 - 10:35
My son recently passed through this phase. The most stressful thing in the world is sitting in the passenger seat, trying not to overreact to the many close calls you experience as your child learns how to drive. Fortunately, it passes (not completely) after a few months of practice. Now my son drives almost everywhere and I can sit in the passenger seat in a semi-relaxed state of mind.
January 23rd, 2008 - 17:49
Oh crap. I forgot about driving. I feel ill now.