Learning to Drive

Two years ago in the spring time my kids and I were over at my sister’s house hanging out. We were laughing and joking about our kids and how we can’t wait for them to drive. My niece was sitting on the bed and said, “Mom can you teach me how to drive?” My sister was like, “that’s what driver’s ed is for.” We laughed. Tania was like “mom for real.” Takka said no because it is stressful teaching someone to drive. So, Tania looked at me. “Auntie Michell, can you teach me?”  The look on my face was like, girl please, but my mouth said, “Yeah, I’ll teach you. It’s nothing.”

So, we went out at 2:30 in the morning. “Tania, the 1^st step is to check your mirror,” I told her. “Next, put your seat belt on.”

“Auntie Michell, what about the music?”

“What about it?” I said.

 “Don’t you think we need it?”

 By that time Tania was giving me a major headache. So, I said that was enough for today. On the way home, I was trying to teach her the importance of driving. And it’s going to take a period of time to learn, for instance: “Tania, it took me a year to learn how to drive”.

 So, over the next two months, Tania was so negative about driving like wanting the music on while driving, not wanting to stay in the parking lot, not listening to me about when to stop or back up. So for a while I stop teaching her how to drive. So when we got back to my sister’s house my niece starts telling my sister what happened by exaggerating the whole story. By the following spring time in April, I was ready to teach her again.  It was somewhat of a tradition for the women to teach the kids to drive in our family. So, I was back on road, “FOR NOW”.

So this time instead of putting her right in the car I did what my mom did to us when teaching us to drive. We made cars out of chairs. Of course, Tania had issues about it. So we stopped. Now two years later she still can’t drive, so I’m thinking about taking her out again. It was nice at first getting to know my teenage niece. I will never teach anybody else. My sister was right; teaching somebody is “VERY STRESSFUL!”

Pamela