🚗😬🤦What NOT to do Teaching Your Teen to Drive

My First Blunder: The Truth About Teaching My Teen to Drive 😬

When my Boys were coming up to the age of driving, I told them they needed to do at least two lessons with a driving instructor before getting into my car. Two lessons 😳 I WAS NOT a Driving Instructor then. I was a Youth Worker but had never had anything to do with teaching anyone to drive. So, insisting on only two lessons was my first mistake.

The most ignorant mistake I made was what happened next 😬 

Jay and I were in the car ready to go, meaning I was ready and buckled up. I hadn't asked him a thing. I hadn't checked if he knew how to set himself up in the car. I hadn't even checked what he had learnt in his TWO lessons. I didn’t even think about whether he knew how to reverse properly.

The poor kid then started to reverse out the driveway, down a small slope but big enough to pick up a bit of speed. Next minute I'm screaming at him "What the hell are you doing? STOP" We hadn't even started and it was over. The poor lad says "I was just reversing". It was only then did it occur to me I better find out what he knows.

Oh dear it was the worse 30 minutes we had ever shared. What was meant to be an hour of supposed enjoyment, it was horror. We barely made it half an hour before we both bailed out of the car, practically running in opposite directions.

It was a terrible start 😕 To this day, it remains one of my biggest parenting regrets.

I often say to others, which I need to remember myself, "You don't know what you don't know" 

So my friend, I hope you have a little more understanding of my heart and how I don't want you to walk away from the teenage years having the same regrets. 

Yes, they are challenging years, but more than anything, they are beautiful, critical years as they transition from children into intelligent, self-thinking Young Adults. And soon they may fly the nest, and you will actually miss the small things, the embarrassing things and yes you will probably laugh about the crazy things. I do laugh about my mistakes, as fortunately my boys did bounce back and have turned out to be incredible human beings.

How did the whole 'Learner' experience start for you? I’d love to hear your first experiences.

What did you feel unprepared for? What resources or knowledge would have made a difference? Even if you're almost at the end of this journey, your insights could help other parents just starting out.

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