Earlier in the week my Miss 15 turned into Miss 16, and the first thing she did this weekend was get her learner driver license. DH, of course, made her drive home and took her around one of the city’s busy roundabouts. Fortunately, (or unfortunately?!) she wasn’t put off by the experience. Later that day, when it was just her and I in the car after dropping one of her BFFs home, she asked if she could drive the two of us back the 2 minute drive to our place. Pulling up my big Mama panties, I said, “Sure.” However, it’s a totally different ball game from the time I went with her and DH when she practised driving in an abandoned sub-division with NO other traffic. I climbed into the passenger seat for the first time and we took the obligatory mother/daughter selfie.
We set off (slowly, because she’s a very cautious and conscientious driver) and after 2 minutes sitting at the stop sign waiting for the right time to pull into traffic (this is good!!) we got on the main street that leads to our house. Totally different perspective when your precious baby is driving and—OMG dude, get off of our bumper can’t you see the Learner plates and so what if she’s going 20 kph below the speed limit she’s LEARNING—there’s suddenly traffic everywhere. We made it home in one piece and Miss 16 turns to me and says, “Mum, you should teach me to drive! You’re soooo much calmer than dad.”
Apparently, I have a better poker face than I thought!
Any suggestions for the mum of a brand new driver, let me know in the comments!
P.S FYI it won’t be me teaching Miss 16 the intricacies of driving, I don’t think my heart could take the strain!
Rhonda Brant
Tracey Alvarez
Rhonda Brant
Nicole Cross
Tracey Alvarez