As the month of October approaches, I have been dreading Amanda trading her permit for an actual drivers license. My parents made me purchase my own car when I turned 16 and I have happily passed down that belief down to my children. Amanda has babysat for the past several summers and saved up enough to pay for half of a decent car. So last summer, we purchased a used Mustang for her with a 5-speed manual transmission. (I think it's important for kids to learn how to drive on a standard) We started practicing when she got her permit in October. It was a very slow process but she seemed to be doing very well driving in the country. When the time came for her to drive inside the city, I thought we were doomed or at least a heart attack was in store for me.
I would like to think with 4 children, I would have an abundance of patience, however, teaching Amanda to drive a stick has just about killed me. I finally threw my hands up last week and put the car up for sale. Her anxiety about a standard transmission almost caused 3 different accidents on one single day.
Luckily, her car sold two days later.....so yesterday with cash in hand we went looking for car #2 and most importantly an automatic this time. Trying to find a "pretty" car and reliable at the same time...all within her price range proved to be somewhat challenging. First, we looked at a Honda Civic...certainly a good car, too bad the people couldn't speak English. And why was a private seller selling a car without a registration sticker or a license plate? Hmmmmm.... something funny about that. NEXT! Then we went to see another Honda.... Accord this time, it had been drove hard and needed some serious rest. NEXT! Finally, after driving half way to Dallas we looked at a cute Kia Sportage. It fit exactly what Amanda wanted (small SUV) you wouldn't have caught me dead driving a "soccer mom mobile" when I was 16, but whatever... It drove good and got Tommy's mechanical stamp of approval! Whew....thank god! I rode home with her and was so pleased at how relaxed she was and what a great job she did. Guess I made the right decision there.
All is well that ends well....but I know I grew many gray hairs over this.
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
22 hours ago
You and me both :( Be thankful Amanda can even drive at all, even if it's an automatic! Maci's had her temps for six months and she is a horrible driver...I've stopped driving with her because I don't want the boys in the car with her when she's behind the wheel. So Chuck's been taking her out, and it scares him, too. We're thinking she may be waiting quite awhile before getting her license :) The citizens of Ohio should be grateful.
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave woman. Steve is going to have to teach Brooke how to drive, I have neither the patience nor the guts :)
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