Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Driving test.



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Teaching a teenager to drive is as much a rite of passage for the Parent as it is for the kid. Contrary to what people think, driving is one of the most complex tasks a human will undertake in their lifetime.
Teaching your teen to drive can be a daunting task and oh so nerve wracking.
Patience and calmness are your best friend when teaching a teenager to drive.
In the words of Erma Bombeck ~ They seem to have adjusted the timetable for childbearing so that menopause and teaching a sixteen year old to drive a car, will occur in the same week. Sure felt like that, mind you I do not think at any age is a good age, to teach someone to drive.

Well now that we have mastered the steering, braking, cornering, parallel parking and all else that there is to the joy of driving, I am happy to say that our Son passed his driving test yesterday and now has his license to drive on his own.
He had to do a victory run yesterday on his own and said how strange it was driving all by himself. Probably no Mum nagging to slow down, and watch out.
Good luck Marcel and enjoy your driving.

Have you got any funny driving lesson stories to tell?

I hope that your week is going well

Hugs
Carolyn

36 comments:

  1. Congrats, Marcel! And be ever so careful!

    I already knew how to drive an automatic but my sister said it was important that I learn how to drive a stick shift. At the time they had a '61 Nova three speed with the shift on the steering wheel.

    Trying to master the clutch and accelerate was TOUGH. My nephew Mike was in the backseat and I kept stalling the car at the stop sign.

    It was so bad he started to cry so we let him out and he walked home.

    Well after I don't know HOW many tries I finally did it. Came to the stop sign, shifted into first and off we go.

    Well I had no clue that there was a group of teenage guys at the corner and as I took off they applauded!

    I just wanted to die! I didn't know they were watching me!

    Hugs,
    Marsha

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  2. Oh how funny Marsha.
    Yes, changing from an automatic back to manual is different isn't it.
    Lovely story and you can laugh about it now.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  3. i don't even know how to drive! :-) the reason being that we don't have a car, we just commute. it was nice reading all about it though.

    charmedwishes18.blogspot.com

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  4. Oh yes Carolyn, I remember those days well. My fingernails have all finally grown out. Good for your son.
    Thank you so much for the lovely words you left for me.
    Hugs,
    June

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  5. Boy Howdy...driving is an adventure!!!
    Blessings to you Carolyn!
    Like your post.
    God Bless,
    d

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  6. How wonderful for Marcel! Not long after I received my license at 16, my mother went away for the weekend. I took her car without permission so my friends and I could do out Saturday night as teens like to do. We stopped at a Jack in the Box restaurant (do you have those? they are like a McDonalds but used to have a giant Jack head on each building). When we parked, some boys in the next car were bothering us so we decided to leave. Dopey me did not remember to look in the rearview mirror and I backed right into the building, through the glass. Thank goodness no one was hurt. The manager thought I had been drinking, but all I had was a chocolate milkshake!

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  7. Hi Charmedwishes,

    Commuting is probably much easier if you live in a big City, than trying to drive and finding a carpark.

    Hi June,

    Glad that it was not only me and I know what you are saying.
    thank you for visiting and your kind words.

    Hi Deanna,

    Driving is an adventure and as long as Marcel is sensible and careful, that is all that I want him to be.

    Oh dear Sharon, that would have been awful for you.
    Glad that you and your friends weren't hurt. It must have given you a terrible fright though.
    No we do not have Jack in the Box, but we have McDonalds and Burger King.
    thanks for sharing your driving experiences.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  8. Yay Carloyn! Congratulations on a job well done!!! And congratulations to Marcel for passing his test!!!!!
    Now comes the worrying every time he'll walk out the door until he comes home!!!
    I pray that St. Christopher will always be with him~
    everything vintage

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  9. Congratulations to Marcel!! It is quite a feat.

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  10. oh how lovely! :)
    for me, learning was really costly as I totalled two cars during my early years of driving... wasn't really funny but now I can smile looking back :)
    have a lovely day, darling Carolyn, xoxo

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  11. The night before my (one & only) driving test as a student, my instructor ( an elderly male chauvinist pig!) threw up his hands & declared I'd fail, fail, fail!!!

    I was so incensed & determined to prove him wrong - and his dreadfully inept instruction! (NB Once I'd started, it'd been impossible to change to another driving school without losing all my fee -unwelcome to a student on a limited budget!!) Anyway, I passed with flying colours!!

    Congrats to yr son (& to you for all that great instruction!) - my first drive alone I'll never forget either!!

    xxLOLA:)

    PS thanks for all yr so lovely comments!! xx

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  12. I love those driving gloves!!

    Okay, my funny driving story is one you mustn't share with the world! Keep it between you & me or else my rep as a European Diva will go straight down the toilet!! So, I may be living la dolce vita in Europe for the last 10 years, but my roots run deep in the fields of Oklahoma. I grew up a ranchers daughter home on the range. My parents ranch is 30 miles from the nearest town - though I was fortunate as my family lived in town (a very small town w/only 150 people!) while I was a teenager. When I was about 14 my dad would let me drive his little tractor (it's legal in Oklahoma from age 14) to get around. To go see my friends I would take the tractor out for a buzz... one day that buzz went bump! I had my first wreck - age 14 - on a little red tractor as I couldn't get the brake to stop so I bumped into the side of the local post office!!! No damage to the post office, by my tractor tire deflated along with my ego and trust me, everyone from my hometown or surrounding town knows this oh so demoraling story!

    This story was too good not to share, but I do fear you'll never look at me quite the same!!!
    LOL!

    Toma

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  13. Hello my dear...

    FOR all!

    THANKS for your kind passage in my blogs...for you fantastic photos, for the emotions that you know give us...

    THANKS for your special friendship...

    Thanks for all short!!!KISSES a lot my dear! BYE, NI

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  14. Oh congrats to your boy. It is such an achievement. My son recently passed his " P's" ( something unique to Aussie) and it really was a mini celebration, as well as easing the load of the run abouts in the evenings.
    - wow - how very special.
    hugs x Suzi

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  15. loving the old school charm of the driving gloves!

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  16. Congrats to your son on getting his license! I'm sure that it is distressing when teaching teens to drive:).

    Blessings,

    Kim

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  17. Oh I remember learning to drive at sixteen Carolyn. Yikes! :)

    I hope you try the delicious pancake soon. You'll enjoy it!

    Have a wonderful weekend my friend,
    ~Blessings, ~Melissa :)

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  18. Thanks Jodie, yes, every time he walks out the door, you do worry, but lucky for us, he is a sensible guy.

    thank you very much Jessica.

    Hi Susan,

    Looking back on it now you can smile and it is only with experience that one can be a better driver.

    Hi Nora and Lola,

    so glad you could prove the nasty driving instructor wrong and what a lovely feeling it must have been for you. Yeah!

    Oh dear Toma! What a lovely story and one you can laugh about now.
    And yes, it will be kept between you and me. Thanks for sharing.

    Thank you Ni, for your friendship, always enjoy hearing from you.

    Hi Suzi,

    Congratulations for your Son, always good when they can have their independence and good for us not having to drive them around.

    thank you Hawa and yes he did buy himself a pair of driving glove.

    thanks Kim,

    You do not know how scary it is when they first start driving, as June said, her fingernails have started growing back now.

    Hi Melissa,

    Sweet Sixteen and yes it is a little yikes, isn't it.
    Yes, I will try your recipe as it sounded good.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  19. Hi Carolyn, Congratulations to your son!! I just went through the same with my daughter, Katrina. She is 17 and a senior and she just got her license on Friday. She was so excited to pass on the first try. But that wasn't even the most exciting thing that week, two days before that, she got her first acceptance letter to the college she wants to attend. Katrina was flying high last week. It is so strange when she ask to take the car now. LOL!

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  20. Oh Happy sixteen! Congrats on passing. Try not to worry he will get better everyday. What a great time for him!
    Hugs, Lisa

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  21. I remember when I was learning to drive. My mother would be beside me in the passenger's seat and she'd just be...dying...beside me...screaming her head off almost looking like she'd been having somekinda seizure! hahahahaha! OH dear...

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  22. Congrats to your son and how I admire you!!!...I think I must be a bad mama...because my daughte is 18 and just took her written test...I wouldn't let her do ANY of it when she was 16 because frankly I didn't feel with her attitude and grades deserved it. Now that she is in college and we are taking her and picking her up everyday from class...I ask myself..who was punished? lol Oh well live and learn..my husband will be teaching her to drive during the next few weeks, because sadly she and I are too much alike to be in a car just the two of us for a long strech of time..even in a big SUV :) Ugh and to think I have 1 more daughter to do this with :)Did I meantion I got my car months before my 16th bday and was driving out my driveway the morning of my 16th...see bad mama lol) Rose

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  23. Hi Carol,

    Congratulations to Katrina for passing her driving test and to be accepted into College ~ that is wonderful for her.
    I wish her well.

    Hi Lisa,

    thank you for visiting, always great to hear from you.

    Hi Charity,

    You can laugh about it now, but can be a nervous time for a Parent.

    Hi Rose,

    Marcel is 17 and will be 18 in a few weeks. He had never really got around to going for his license so it is neat that he has it now.
    He can go down to the shop for some milk. We have a Landrover and when our daughter was learning it just seemed so big so we got a small second hand Mercedes A 160 which is an excellent car for them to learn in. The big car was just too scary.
    Good luck with your daughters learning.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  24. Sounds like a fun time was had by all! Congratulations to you son!

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  25. Hi Carolyn!!! oh what fun...and I can only imagine how hard it is and how nerve wracking it must be!!!

    Good Luck to Marcel and stay safe!!! Safety First above all!!!

    Have a great weekend!
    Hugs
    Diana

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  26. Hi Carolyn...Congratulations to Marcel!! And good for you Mom...having the patience to go through it with your son.
    I can relate to Marsha...I had only driven an automatic and had to learn stick shift...now we drive automatics again! I can also recall the day I got my license. I was 21, married with a baby. It was January or February...can't remember the exact date...but it was very snowy with lots of ice on the roads. I did the road test and was so nervous and worried I wouldn't get it because of the conditions. At the end of the test, I asked how I made out...the examiner said: "I've had worse today!" He gave me my license and I haven't looked back!!

    Great post Carolyn! Brought back some great memories...

    Have a wonderful weekend
    Hugs, Nancy

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  27. Thank you Sares for visiting and your kind words.

    Hi Diana,

    It was a nerve wracking time and so glad that he now has his license.

    Hi Nancy,

    Lovely to hear your experience of going for your license.
    How hard it must be driving in conditions like snow and ice.
    You did really well as it can't have been easy.
    At the best of times you are nervous in case you do something wrong, I know I was.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  28. When I was teaching my son to drive, there were days when I had to take a pill to calm down. It was horrible. I am sure glad that is over with. Martha

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  29. Hi Martha,

    I know what you are saying ~ I think that was one of the hardest things that I have had to do.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  30. Wow, lovely post!
    Marsha, has made me laugh too, thanks.

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  31. Yes,
    Congratulations to Marcel.
    I'll be thinking great thoughts for you all and you go though this transition.

    xox
    Constance

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  32. thank you for visiting, Slices of Beauty.

    Hi Constance,

    Many thanks for your kind words for Marcel, I really appreciate them.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  33. OMG,
    I remember that one. Teaching a teenager to drive is very nerve wracking. Good Luck!!
    Have a wonderful weekend,
    Rosemary

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  34. Hi Carolyn~ I enjoyed seeing the picture of you with your first car! So cute! My first car was a Datsun 240Z. I was really scared to learn to drive a stick shift, but now I'm glad I did! I hope Marcel is careful and has lots of fun! ~Mandy

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  35. Thanks Rosemary and yes, we are glad that he does seem to be sensible when driving so I hope that he can continue to be like this.

    Hi Mandy,

    A Datsun 240Z was a flash car and that would have been lovely to have for your first car.
    Thanks Mandy for your kind words for Marcel.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  36. Great first picture...
    Best regards from Paris,

    Pierre

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Thank you so much for visiting Draffin Bears.
It always makes me happy to read your comments
and I look forward to visiting you.


Carolyn xx