My son turned 15 years old a week and a half ago. Let’s just say it was an exciting day for both Father and Son. Ever since he turned 14, he started asking if he could drive. I had always responded, “When you turn 15, I’ll start teaching you how to drive.” I know my wife had overheard me promise this to my son time and time again. She never really said anything about it, so I assumed she was good with it. I suppose I should have brought the topic up with her to discuss how we should move forward in giving my son his first experience behind the wheel. But having felt I would have been confronted with much resistance, I declined to make it a topic of conversation. This was not a smart decision.
Well, the highly anticipated day arrived. Both my son and I were giddy with excitement but were able to contain ourselves. It was a Saturday; there were chores to do around the house. What could I do speed this day up and get my son rolling? I was pushing garbage from one side of the garage to the other. The never-ending disorganization of our garage gave me the solution I was looking for. I had bundles and bundles of old newspapers that just had to be taken to a recycle bin. Saving our planet was the number #1 priority. So, I got my son and told my wife we were going to her mothers to put the papers in the recycle bin. After my son and I had accomplished our mission of making this world a cleaner place to live. I looked at him and said, “Son, drive me home.” He was ecstatic!
We were in Jeep Cherokee with an automatic transmission. I knew my son could handle it as its not much different than driving a golf cart…two peddles. The hardest part in the entire journey was just navigating out of my in-laws driveway. The rest of the way home, we did not exceed 15 M.P.H., if any cars approached us from behind, I would instruct my son to pull over to let them pass. All in all, it was a smooth ride home. I was beaming with delight. My son made one step forward into manhood. I was proud of him. My son’s grandmother only lives a couple of miles away from our home. I did not think anything would go wrong, and nothing did, until we actually got home.
The two of us walked in the door, and my son said to my wife, “I got to drive home!” Dark clouds suddenly formed over our home and the rolling thunder came at a loud whisper. It would only be moments before the lightning would strike…
“You did what?!” My wife was anything but pleased. An unpleasant conversation followed. She let me know she was not happy about letting our son drive her car. She did not think it was appropriate to let him drive on the open roads without a learners permit. She said it was illegal and I was not above the law. And that made my blood boil over. I tried to let her know I was being cautious of every little move our son made, etc…but that got me absolutely nowhere.
I fully understand where she was coming from. It is a mother’s responsibility to protect her children from the world. On the other hand, I am the father, and it is my job to teach my children to deal with the world. In the end, this was one more thing that did not end in a mutual resolution.
My father taught me how to drive when I turned 15, I remember it was snowing, I recall the roads being iced over. We went to the church parking lot and he taught me how to do “donuts”. He called it "offensive winter driving". I remember that lesson came to a quick finish when I came only inches away from sliding into a light post. I too was to learn quickly where my father was coming from...
The following weekend, I took my son out again. We took my car over to the high school parking lot to where he would have his first lesson in driving a stick. Since we were in my car, in a somewhat controlled environment, my wife seemed OK with it. Or at least I was led to believe this as she did not speak a word concerning this. Having been my son’s first time driving a stick, he did really well, and I was impressed with his performance behind the wheel. After 20 minutes, and the constant jerking and stalling of the vehicle, lesson was over. Oh, it’s great to be a Dad!
Well, the highly anticipated day arrived. Both my son and I were giddy with excitement but were able to contain ourselves. It was a Saturday; there were chores to do around the house. What could I do speed this day up and get my son rolling? I was pushing garbage from one side of the garage to the other. The never-ending disorganization of our garage gave me the solution I was looking for. I had bundles and bundles of old newspapers that just had to be taken to a recycle bin. Saving our planet was the number #1 priority. So, I got my son and told my wife we were going to her mothers to put the papers in the recycle bin. After my son and I had accomplished our mission of making this world a cleaner place to live. I looked at him and said, “Son, drive me home.” He was ecstatic!
We were in Jeep Cherokee with an automatic transmission. I knew my son could handle it as its not much different than driving a golf cart…two peddles. The hardest part in the entire journey was just navigating out of my in-laws driveway. The rest of the way home, we did not exceed 15 M.P.H., if any cars approached us from behind, I would instruct my son to pull over to let them pass. All in all, it was a smooth ride home. I was beaming with delight. My son made one step forward into manhood. I was proud of him. My son’s grandmother only lives a couple of miles away from our home. I did not think anything would go wrong, and nothing did, until we actually got home.
The two of us walked in the door, and my son said to my wife, “I got to drive home!” Dark clouds suddenly formed over our home and the rolling thunder came at a loud whisper. It would only be moments before the lightning would strike…
“You did what?!” My wife was anything but pleased. An unpleasant conversation followed. She let me know she was not happy about letting our son drive her car. She did not think it was appropriate to let him drive on the open roads without a learners permit. She said it was illegal and I was not above the law. And that made my blood boil over. I tried to let her know I was being cautious of every little move our son made, etc…but that got me absolutely nowhere.
I fully understand where she was coming from. It is a mother’s responsibility to protect her children from the world. On the other hand, I am the father, and it is my job to teach my children to deal with the world. In the end, this was one more thing that did not end in a mutual resolution.
My father taught me how to drive when I turned 15, I remember it was snowing, I recall the roads being iced over. We went to the church parking lot and he taught me how to do “donuts”. He called it "offensive winter driving". I remember that lesson came to a quick finish when I came only inches away from sliding into a light post. I too was to learn quickly where my father was coming from...
The following weekend, I took my son out again. We took my car over to the high school parking lot to where he would have his first lesson in driving a stick. Since we were in my car, in a somewhat controlled environment, my wife seemed OK with it. Or at least I was led to believe this as she did not speak a word concerning this. Having been my son’s first time driving a stick, he did really well, and I was impressed with his performance behind the wheel. After 20 minutes, and the constant jerking and stalling of the vehicle, lesson was over. Oh, it’s great to be a Dad!
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