LOL...um...better you than me?

Sorry you have been ill/injured! Sounds like life has been falling down on you, but hopefully it will pass and you'll be back on top soon.

I hope dd gets the hang of it and the lessons become far less stressful soon. My parents used to take us to parking lots to practice -- a lot safer until they're ready to hit the road. ;)

Feel better!

Sam

...although I suppose my daughter will be 16 before I blink.

I'm hoping the old Subaru wagon will still be around for her first drives. Nothing she could do to that thing that an unfortunate deer (or two, or three...) hasn't already done.

Good luck with the driving. Hope you feel better.

I can only say, I completely relate to it being one thing after another. I fully believe this has been the longest year of my life. Its just one thing after another here lately. Yesterday, I was sicker than I'd been since I had morning sickness. Today...just fine. Except, now I have to pay bills. LOL!

Also, I promised my niece we'd learn to drive together. On the upside, I've been a white knuckled passenger for years anyway.

Thank goodness I have 16 years until I get there... :-) But I suppose it will be here before I know it! My first time driving was in my driver's ed class. That poor instructor... :-) I surely hope my Jeep will last long enough for my daughter to learn to drive in it. I've put some pretty hefty steel bumpers on it (which survived me hitting a guardrail pretty hard while 9 months pregnant with her) so hopefully it'll keep on ticking for a while, and will damage things she may hit more than they will damage her!

I'm impressed, Shirley, that you attempted riding with her after being so sick! Goes to show what an awesome mom you must be. :-)

Shirley, I'm sorry to hear you haven't been well and hope you're completely back on your feet again soon!

I love your driving lessons analogy. All we can hope for our kids is that they follow the right road.

I am in complete awe of all parents who have relinquished the car keys to their kids. I feel sick even thinking about my child driving! My older daughter will get her permit in December. Yikes!! She can drive my husband's Jeep, but not my new convertible!!

Yay for you, Shirley! And hugs--I'm so sorry you've been down and out for a bit--glad to see you back! I'm not looking forward to riding with my kids as they learn to drive... I'm a terrible teacher--might have to ask my husband to step up and take care of that task!

I know your pain. When my older daughter was learning to drive I didn't think we would ever get out of the parking lot and once we did I just knew she was going to hit a curb and take out the tires or someone's mailbox. I'm going through driver's training with my younger one now. She was on the interstate for the first time the other day and did well. She has a natural feel for the road where the other daughter had to work for it.

But there are plenty of nail biting and hand clinching moments, especially when they're driving YOUR car! We saved our old van -- now 10 years old and 180K miles -- for the kids to drive.

Good luck!

Shirley--My daughter recently got a master's degree in Engineering from Berkeley--in one year. She also flunked the driving test (the one involving the car and the soon to be terrified DMV person with the check list) four times. Fifth time was a charm, but only because I don't think the DMV could handle watching both of us cry any more. What a trauma.

But you know, other than that, the teen years were not bad. A lot of guidance, but things turned out pretty well--and yes, I was thinking OMG at least twenty times a day.

I taught 2 girls and 2 boys to drive. Better to teach girls than boys. Boys think they know it all already---girls are willing to listen.