Yesterday, our family went out together to run some errands. As I have mentioned in the past our daughter Aly is working on getting her driving hours for drivers training , so Mark thought it would be a good idea if Aly drove us to our various locations.
First of all, in my own defense, I should tell you that I frighten easily. My family knows that they have to make some kind of sound when coming near an area where I am located. If I see or hear something unexpected, I generally scream. It is not something that I am proud of, but I have learned to live with it and I thought my family had too. I should also tell you that Aly is not the most confident driver yet, and she seems to over react to gentle criticism of her driving skills.
That being said, off we went on our adventure. It was decided that Mark would ride up front and help Aly along. I was not officially asked if this setup met my approval, but I was just as happy to ride in the back and not take the heat for a change. At one point, I mentioned something that I thought was a very good point about Aly's driving, and I was told "Do you have a book or a magazine with you back there?" Well! how rude, I was just trying to help.
Honestly, things went fairly well, Aly made what I think were typical new driver mistakes, and Mark was very good about pointing them out gently. I had pretty much stopped my comments and was enjoying my chauffeur driven ride through town. All at once, I looked up and we were speeding into the back end of a light shimmery blue (I was that close) mini van. I did what any self respecting mom would do, I screamed. Not a little, "oh my" kind of scream mind you, but a full out life flashing before my eyes scream, followed by the comment "Holy crap!"
You know, I just want to say, that my family can be very unforgiving. Considering the circumstances I thought I was responding quite appropriately, but not everyone agreed. Avery (who was with me in the back seat) looked at me and said, "You better not act like that when I am learning to drive." She was about to add to her comment when I warned her with my pointer finger and an evil, I'm going to get you my pretty, look. Aly started to cry and Mark was trying to calm her down and get us safely to our next location, with positive reinforcement.
Aly made some comments about never driving again, which Mark and I pointed out would not go well for her. We also pointed out that we wanted her to be a confident driver, which means lots of practice and lots of criticism. Aly, is a very high achiever, and I think she has a hard time when something does not come easily to her. Mark and I want to help navigate her through this learning process as best we can. We really want her to understand that just because you took drivers training, does not mean you are a driver. Practice makes perfect, right? Besides, growing up my Mom would only make right turns, so everywhere we went she had to plot it out so that there were no left turns. I really do not want to see another generation of that!
So today, is another beautiful day and we are going back out on the roads. Mark and I have discussed having Aly drive again. I think it is a good idea to get her back in the saddle. However, this time I am bringing a book or something to keep me occupied. I do not want another episode like yesterday. Aly might swear off driving all together, and I would be stuck driving her everywhere for the rest of her life. That just would not do at all!
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