Can there be any more vivid memory for parents, and sometimes grandparents, than teaching their kids to drive?
I’ve got a number of my grandchildren who are moving through the teen years and one-by-one they are hitting the age where they start up with mom or dad—“Can I learn to drive?”
If you experienced it, there might not be anything else that kids are more insistent and persistent about than when they make the decision, of course on their own, that they are ready to drive.
My wife and I had four children, and she was the driving instructor for everyone. Thank you honey.
But she actually looks back on it “with fond memories.” She said it was this one-on-one time she could spend with each child, and then years later, our oldest grandchild became student number five when she started asking “Grammy” to teach her. And she did.
When kids begin to drive, parents have to know it is another step in their eventual independence, and that probably makes it hard on moms or dads, who realize their little boy or girl is growing up.
There are several other things along the growing stages for kids that let you know they aren’t babies any more. How many kids love standing next to a parent or grandparent and show them, “I’m only an inch shorter than you!”
And that comparison certainly speeds up when you are a grandfather, and begin shrinking!
Back to driving—my wife started our kids fairly young, like 13, since we homeschooled all four kids and we usually lived in a rural area. She would start on a private road, going back-and-forth, and we had a huge circle driveway in front of the house so that was helpful too.
From there, she advanced to parking lots where the kids got used to turning, backing up and all the rest.
When I asked my wife what the toughest part was about teaching our children, plus one, after a pause she said, “nothing. I enjoyed it and never got mad at them once. I was determined to make it a pleasant experience.”
We were fairly tough as parents on our kids in several ways, and driving was one of them.
We didn’t allow our kids to date in high school although our fourth one broke that rule a bit as we loosened up.
But my wife preferred our kids didn’t get their license until they were 17 and had completed the driver’s course, and anyone with teens knows that it is hard to hold off. Kids can get their license at 16 and most of them probably do.
Then, when I stopped by my daughter’s house the other day, where her 16-year-old is now driving on his own, her car was gone. I walked in and asked if Zach had taken it to work and she said no, she let him take it to school that day…“because he is always asking to.” I knew that once it started there would be no stopping it.
If you have a teen now begging to start driving, my wife, who did an excellent job with all her students, said she suggests they read the entire Louisiana Driver’s Manual before they start. You can get it online.
Many of us on the roads these days can tell that too many people don’t know a lot of basic driving laws. And don’t get me started on my biggest pet peeve, since I’ve talked about it before—people staying in the left lane of the interstate when faster cars come up behind them.
Have any of you figured that out yet? Not only is it the law of the road—you see signs saying, “Slower traffic stays right,” but it seems like common road courtesy to move over when a faster car comes up behind you. However, we have ALL experienced the aggravation of that.
I think it might not be bad for people to at least re-read the manual again later in life to refresh yourself about simple, basic driving laws. It seems like many people don’t know a lot of them, especially the latest craziness of people actually stopping on a road to “let someone in,” when they are actually creating an accident possibility.
I’m as nice as the next guy when I drive, but we should at least follow the actual driving laws. It would be safer for us all.
As for teaching kids to drive, I still thank my wife for doing that.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Comments are closed.