I wanted to post a NOT ME MONDAY post like Emma does. The neighbors Internet kept kicking me off last night, so that post is scratched.
Teen Drivers
Why am I letting her practice drive at 14...its gonna take 2 years of practice driving or more...
Usually on Sunday afternoon, while Taylor is at choir practice, I buy groceries. I didn't feel like it Sunday. Me, being the living on the edge, super cool, ultra hip, aunt that I am, decided to let Mary Margaret drive me around. The Lucy Van is down right now, so we are driving Tim's Nissan Exterra, high off ground, super tight steering, it darts to the right every once and a while, and brakes are amazingly tight.
Stop sign = comes to a complete SUPER FAST stop, 3 car lengths before the stop sign.
Don't do that again, plus you choked me, gentle stops, easy gradual stops.
Gravel roads 50 miles an hour, me gripping the OMG handles, loudly saying SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN.
Highways (we have some that are not that busy) she goes 20 miles per hour! Gravel 50, pavement 20! I picked the day that all the tractors were out and about. She comes to a complete SUDDEN stop in the middle of the road waiting for the tractor to pass us, a tractor that was BTW as wide as the road. For those who don't know, the passenger side invisible gas pedal works just about as good as the invisible brake pedal and steering wheel.
She gets into the turning lane, like I instructed, and stops. Just as soon as the truck is in the turning lane she stops. The turn is about 3 or 4 car lengths ahead of us. I look a her and I ask, Where are you planning on turning? Upthere. Don't you think we should be CLOSER? Oh, yeah, I guess or we could just driver over there on the shoulder.
We truck on down HWY 350 which takes us to the busy HWY 1. I tell her we are going go down HWY 1 for just a little piece and turn off onto a gravel road that connects us to Hwy 306. She does fine watching for traffic and makes it out on the road safely then SLOWS DOWN. This is a heavily traveled highway, speed demons race down this road and we are going 30. Someone whizzes by and passes us and SHE LETS GO OF THE WHEEL AND SLAMS ON THE BREAK. I can't grab the wheel because the stupid seat belt has me pinned against the seat, and again that gas pedal was not working in the passenger side.
We make it to the gravel road connecting to 306. Make it onto HWY 306 and I remember, its a very curvy road. Since she has been slowing down to like ZERO to take curves, I decided that we needed to turn around and get back on a straight road. We found a nice spot she could use as a turn around. She did great.
Wonderful. Things are looking better.
WRONG
We are headed back towards the gravel road we came off of and I tell her to slow down turn on the blinker for a right turn and gently turn onto the gravel road and keep it slow. (my teeth chatter the first time around we were going so fast) She gently slows to another complete stop and starts to turn too sharply...
ME: Straighten the wheel
HER: okayyyy
ME: seriously straighten the wheel (voice several octaves higher)
HER: I'VE GOT THIS!
oh, yes she did.
I was almost in the ditch and she screams at me "I've got this!"
She don't "got this". Not now and maybe not ever. I screamed calmly said back to her...after I grabbed the wheel and steered myself away from the ditch, made her put it in park and look me in the eye..
Don't you ever say to me "I've got this". You've only driven a dozen times. You do not get the privilege of telling me "I've got this".
She says...
How about, I can handle it.
She is breathing, lucky for her.
Bible Verse Challenge: Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Psalm 2:11
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Teen Drivers
Posted by Kaye Butler at 9:30 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
6 comments:
Oh I am so laughing!!!The first time I let Alex drive was home from my grandmas (in town, but only about 5 blocks from us so I didn't have to worry about the speed factor) she was on the wrong side of the road at one point, braking was similar to MM's and then she got so nerved up she was going about 5 mph....Jackson meanwhile was in the back seat screaming "she is gonna kill us".....Second time was down the gravel road from my MIL's I (wisely) made her stop so we could change and I could drive before getting to Hwy. 1 - she is so nervous I don't have the heart to gripe at her much, but since I am normally pretty calm in situations I can calmly tell her what to do....Len not so much I don't care if she ever drives with him again -he had her pretty nerved up...which apparently she had him in the same state....Funny thing is she really doesn't care about driving at all, only if I encourage her to will she even try it...At that age I was always begging to drive (and for some reason - maybe I wore her down) my mom actually letting me (on rare occations).....Can't MM get her learner's permit now though?
Oh, me! Do I remember the learning to drive days with Amy! Nail marks on passenger door from holding on. Seemed we were always so near the shoulder. Mercy! She made it and so did I. You will, too! lol
Jenni...
Yes she can get her permit, but what she doesn't know won't KILL ME. Ha ha.
She doesn't know she can get it. She begs all the time to drive. Taylor could care less, she figures there will be someone to drive her around for ever.
MM was trying at one point to drive with one hand, of course it was no problem since we were on the pavement going TEN. She bounced between zero and 30 on the payment. But boy you let us hit the grave and it was like a NAS CAR race.
She really wants to drive at night. Which should work well, she informed me she has NIGHT VISION. We're waiting for a job offer from the CIA, FBI, Army, you name it.
Pat...
What about the perment foot prints I made in the floor board? The brake on my side wasn't working AT ALL.
GREAT verse for that.
And that post just cements the fact that my husband will teach our child(ren) to drive. :)
Oh, how I remember. Fortunately, for me, my boys did fine. Hardly ever scared me. My daughter, on the ohter hand, did. When she was learning to drive, her car was standard transmission and we lived in LITTLE ROCK. Can you say hills and lots of traffic. But luck was on my side and my nephew helped her (read me) out. I remember being behind them one day and saw him grab his head with one hand and the dashboard with the other. And I'm sure his brake wasn't working either. :) It still makes me laugh when I think about it.
Grandmamargie,
Hopefully you might read this comment.
You have to know who you are dealing with. This is a child who, and yes I'm quoting "Only Smart one time a day, thinks the blind can drive carefully, AND she has nightvision, her exray vision hasn't come in yet."
Seriously
Post a Comment