The P Plater

Phew! He Drives!
Despite popular opinion teenagers are OK.  My Young Negotiator (18 1/2 yo) has just gotten his driver's licence and as every parent knows this is an anxious time for us.  Will they crash and die some horrible death, get booked and have to be driven everywhere again, break down in the middle of the night and call us up for advice/help/solace?  But we parents have to let go, tough on me but do-able.  In fact it has been better than I thought.

On the day he passed his driving test I had a dinner and show to go to that night.  Kate Miller-Heidke is EXCELLENT by the way.  Bloody fantastic concert, but I digress.  Dinner in a noisy restaurant and then a music concert is a big deal for my brain injured noggin, causing fatigue and unsteadiness on feet because of sensory overload so driving is a no-no for me in this situation.  I asked my newly appointed driver-son to drop me off and pick me up later which he readily agreed to.  We have an extra teen in house at moment, his friend the Country Lad, and both boys escorted me to town in my car and dropped me off.  I held each lad by the shoulder, looked straight into their eyes and told them sternly "DO NOT MUCK AROUND IN THE CAR".  This would be the Young Negotiator's first drive without a responsible adult.  I know right?

Dinner was fantastic but expensive, concert was FANTASTIC, did I mention that?  Kate Miller-Heidke is one talented Vegemite, and funny to boot.  My mobile was on silent but twice during the concert it 'rang' vibrated.  I ignored it, I was out man!  The show finished quite late (for me) and as pre-arranged I texted the Driver-son to pick me up.  No reply.  Great, he has his music up too loud.  Oh shame mother, shut your mouth, he and the Country Lad were already there waiting for me.  It was he who rang me twice during the show to see if I was ready to be picked up.  I was thrilled to see them alive and undamaged.

In the car I was relegated to the back seat, the driving team up front were 'men' and I was the passenger.  My worries of them fooling around while driving were also squashed.  They were working as a team.  The Country Lad is still on his Learner's permit and he was the Driver-Son's extra eyes.  He pointed out to the Driver-Son that he was "still in neutral you idiot" when the car failed to reverse out of the parking spot.  Mind you the Country Lad also had a small torch in hand to shine on the T-bar gear stick because the light showing you which gear you are in has been dead for years.

They made me laugh when they complained to me that the car did not have a CD player in it (the car is too old for such modern technology) and there is no where to plug in an MP3. 

The two teens worked together on driving carefully but we also talked and laughed in the car.  I am so impressed with them.  I know the Driver-Son will make mistakes, have (hopefully) small bingles and still need our guidance in the car but we all needed that at their age.  Phew, the initial stages have been low stress but I am sure there will be exceptions to this.  There are three drivers in our family and only two cars so there will be juggling and compromise from all of us.  It is a thrill to have our Young Negotiator driving.  Unfortunately, we have to start again with the Dynamic Daughter in a couple of months but that is life.

Have I mentioned to you how BLOODY FANTASTIC Kate Miller-Heidke was?