Are you ready for the ride of your life? It’s more thrilling than a roller coaster! More dreaded than potty training! The day they get their license you’ll celebrate! The first time they drive away without you, you’ll pray harder than ever!
We are now teaching our 5th child to drive. Although I do feel a lot less anxious about it this time around, I don’t feel like I have any advice to share. So I’ll just tell you stories about my teen drivers.
Our first teen driver
I’m not gonna lie, I was very nervous handing over the keys to our oldest after he got his driver’s permit. But he was a very cautious driver. In spite of the stress of new driver anxiety and of hauling his then 8 younger siblings when I let him drive the 25 minutes to school and back, he was a pretty safe driver.
The first time he tried to get his license he failed the test. He was very discouraged. Honestly, he was never really into driving in the first place. It could have been the perfect excuse for him not to try again. But I couldn’t just let it go. I thought about what he loved – video games. He would never give up on a video game just because he didn’t beat it the first time. I wrote him a little note and told him that. Then we looked closer at what the drivers test would be like and tried again… and he passed! Hurray!
And the first time I let him drive his sisters to school without me, I prayed and prayed. I’m happy to report that they got there and home safely. 😊
Our second teen driver
The stories I can think of with our second driving are a lot different than with the first. She was excited to drive!
When we were about half way through her 30 hours of permit driving, I was teaching her to change lanes. She had a tendency to pull her hands when she turned her head to check the next lane, which of course pulled the car over. Yikes! Luckily our close calls never came to any calamities!
It was summer time as we neared the end of her practice, and she needed more night driving hours. On one of those outings she drove past a corn field with tall stalks almost ready to harvest and it started to rain. The drops were big, making plopping sounds on the car, but not heavy enough to make us nervous. We rolled the windows down slightly to smell the fresh scent of the desert rain. Ahhh! 😁
Our third teen driver
Number three has been our most… aggressive driver so far. She had to sit and turn on her music before she got going. Then she would go fast and stop fast and turn fast. Any slow car in front of her would make her grumble. 😬
I know that my grabbing the door handle out of nervousness didn’t help anything, but it was an automatic reaction that I could not control. Sorry, Sweetie!
Once she was out driving on her own, she gave Dad a few opportunities to bang out dents and whatnot. But it’s now been 3 years since she got her license, and we’re all still alive! Good job, #3!
Our fourth teen driver
About a week before #4 was scheduled to get her permit, we took her in for an eye exam and found she needed glasses. I knew she wouldn’t want to wait for them before she started driving. With some heavenly help, we ended up getting her glasses the day she got her permit! After we picked them up we headed to the church parking lot to let her start learning to maneuver in a relatively open space. She had a lot of fun. 😆
#4 has been a very helpful driver, always willing to give her siblings rides and run errands for us. Thanks, Sweetie!
Our fifth teen driver
Life has a way of reminding me that each of our kids is different. #5 had counted down to when he could get his permit for about a year. Then, when we got to the church parking lot to let him start driving, he got bored of it in about 5 minutes. 🤷♀️He doesn’t ask to go driving very often, but when we have somewhere to go he’s happy to take the keys. So far so good…
Letting them drive away
Each time we’ve had a teenager learning to drive, I haven’t anticipated a feeling that comes once they get their license… I miss them. Those hours together in the car seem like work in the moment, but once they go off without me, I miss them. This time around I’m going to try to enjoy those 30 hours of practice time a little more.
Thanks for reading my post. I hope you’re enjoying your adventure.
For more about teenagers, try 5 Tips for Connecting with your Teens.
