Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Beware - Emily is Driving
Emily has been fifteen for a while now and has wanted to get in some practice driving. Knowing that I was woefully behind on getting her some driving practice, I knew I had to get it in gear. I'd allowed her to drive home once or twice, but we hadn't really worked on it a lot. So, I decided it was time for us to get out on the road a bit more.
I was hoping for ideal weather. But let's face it, spring in Tennessee is rainy. So rather than delay things any longer, we buckled in on an overcast day for a bit of driving practice. The good news is that I didn't once fear for my life, though I did worry about whether the car would come home in one piece. Overall, her main issue is judging the distance to the corners of the car and being able to tell exactly where the car is on the road or when parking. It's simply a matter of experience. But I can remember too when I couldn't tell where the edges of the car was and would, from time to time, drift a little too close to the side of the road.
Speaking of experience, she's still in that phase of learning to drive where most aspects of the car are not automatic. It'd been so long that I couldn't remember a time when I had to consciously think "Ok, the gas is on the right and the brake is on the left." Emily's still there and, when practicing parking down by the lake, hit the gas instead of the brake.
The arrow shows how far we got before inertia stopped the car. You can see the tire marks right under the arrow in the photo. It wouldn't have even been worth mentioning if it weren't for the fact that the grass was, in fact, its own small lake.
The arrow shows how far we got before inertia stopped the car. You can see the tire marks right under the arrow in the photo. It wouldn't have even been worth mentioning if it weren't for the fact that the grass was, in fact, its own small lake.
Emily and her best bud Ellie coincidentally shared a plane trip down to Florida for spring break. I was happy to be able to send Emily to spend the break with her friend Deanna and, honestly, missed her before she even got out of my sight. When she gets back, we're going to the DMV to get her Learner's Permit for more driving.
Love you, Em!
-Dad
Labels: Kids
# posted by Zebraman @ 12:21 PM 
