For those of you who have been through this before with your child, you know how absolutely horrifying this can be.
Not that my daughter is a bad driver. As a matter of fact, she's pretty good.
The scary part is really more about letting go: of my baby, my car, my control...
This past weekend, we went out practicing. She had gotten pretty good at just driving around the subdivision streets and the empty school parking lot.
"Do you want to drive down to the school?," I asked.
"I don't know....that's kind of scary. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet," she answered.
Taking a deep breath, I said, "Well, if you're scared, that's the perfect reason to do it. Let's go."
So we did.
She drove all the way down to the school. This required her to go through a stop light, merge lanes and turn left in traffic. Truly scary stuff for a new driver.
She did a very nice job.
I guess we both learned how to overcome our fear that day.
Good for you for pushing your daughter . . . And good for your daughter for facing the fear! I love that!
ReplyDeleteYou are a good mom. I HATED trying to teach my daughter how to drive. I knew how I got the car to go and stop but I found it SO hard to explain that to her and I actually traded in the 5 speed wagon for an automatic wagon to make it a little easier. Your post reminds me that we do just have to push through and do those scary things.
ReplyDeleteIt is the scariest thing! You are a brave and good mom for giving that little push. She'll be an excellent driver.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that your daughter has some fear. It's the kids who think they know it all that scare me. I'm grateful we still had driver's ed when my son was sixteen.
ReplyDeleteYes, I will see you in Indiana next week (and Kim is coming too). Can't wait!
This was one of my most unpleasant memories, too, & we made each of the kids learn the standard shift too, not easy. Good luck to you Jennifer, white knuckles & all. I imagine your daughter is good, but it isn't easy to let go.
ReplyDeleteI hated teaching my sons to drive! They were pretty good too, but it scared the stink out of me!
ReplyDeleteI hated teaching my sons to drive! They were pretty good too, but it scared the stink out of me!
ReplyDeleteGreat topic for a post---you sound like you're doing a wonderful job! It is not an enjoyable task for me and as I have told my kids, it's not about them, it's about me! Nerve-wracking!
ReplyDeleteYay you guys. I love the way you let go and invited her to take her fear on. What a great lesson. I've taught THREE kids. I contend it's worse than potty training. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat slice! I love that you gave your daughter that encouragement! Like Eleanor Roosevelt says, "we must do the things we think we cannot do."
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