A new school year has begun and with it confirmation that few things are more jarring to the human psyche than seeing children - who were grade schoolers kicking balls in the street yesterday - driving.
    
      Of all the challenges parents face, teaching children to drive has to rank with the most excruciating. Yes I know the toddler years  - when kids are consistently trying to off themselves by chewing on electrical cords, hurling themselves down staircases and jumping into pools of water absent ability to swim - are not exactly a picnic. Nothing, however, compares to having these same children behind the wheel of a large metal vehicle going sixty miles an hour while other drivers – ignorant of their inexperience – naively do the same.

     I remember permitting my first daughter Ari to "practice drive" while en route to her highschool; my youngest daughter Alexa buckled securely (or so I managed to deceive myself) in the back seat.  As Ari attempted to take a right turn one morning, she completely underestimated the degree to which she also needed to turn the steering wheel and ended up directly in line of an oncoming car.  “ARI” I screamed as I grabbed the wheel and jerked us back to our lane of safety, "STOP THE CAR".  “Mommy” she cried in dismay, “you’re yelling at me.”   "I'm sorry darling"  I lied,  "but when human beings are confronted with life threatening circumstances yelling is a perfectly natural response."
      
      Alexa - still seated calmly in the back - asked innocently, “How long will Sissy be learning to drive?”  "A year," I answered.  “It’s going to be a long year.” she emphatically proclaimed.  “Only if we are lucky sweetheart", I replied, "only if we are lucky.” 
 


Comments




Leave a Reply