Rewinding back to early 2020 pc (post Covid – remember that time?), the older teen in the house was talking about turning 16 and was ADAMANT that in a years time, he would not want to learn to drive. He didn’t need to learn to drive, he lives in town, he would get lifts with friends, it didn’t interest him.
At the time, I smiled and nodded and reassured him that approaching his 17th birthday, he would feel differently. I knew that as soon as his friends with pre-Christmas birthdays started to learn to drive and that was all anyone was talking about, he would change his mind.
To be fair, the change of heart came quite late on, he was still saying that he wasn’t interested until just before Christmas. Suddenly, he was talking about learning and saving for a car.
Then lockdown number three happened and any choices in the matter were taken out of his hands.
We had asked around to find a good driving instructor and before his 17th birthday, we put his name on the waiting list. The instructor warned us that the wait could be a long one. With so many lessons and tests put back because of lockdown, this was not a good time to want driving lessons.
So, I suggested to my husband that we take him out for a few lessons once the teen was 17, or rather he take him out. My husband is a brilliant teacher and one of the most patient people I know (he puts up with me for which he deserves the shiniest of gold medals). He took his new teaching job very seriously and watched lots of YouTube videos and was very excited about his new role.
It was a very sad and short-lived experience. The teen found it really tricky and after stalling the car a few times on a few short outings, he declared that he was not going to learn to drive. He couldn’t do it and wasn’t going to do it.
I tried taking him. It went okay and even though I had no clue what I was doing, he seemed a bit more positive. Then the stalling returned and again, he gave up.
In the end, we left him to it, saying that we were happy to take him out or not, it was really up to him. But that we weren’t driving instructors, so he might just have to be patient and wait until he could do proper lessons. It wasn’t mentioned for a few weeks. Then one of his friends turned 17 and was given a car for his birthday, on one of his first outings with his dad, his friend had nearly had an accident. This seemed to stir something up in the teen, he came home, announced he had been a ‘bitch’ about the whole driving thing and could we (he and I) start going out again.
It seemed he prefers my more relaxed, YouTube video less approach more. So, off we went again. Luckily, there is an industrial estate not far from where we live which is perfect for learner drivers. It is quiet but offers a good system of roads and a roundabout which is perfect for learning.
The stalling was a problem to begin with and then suddenly it stopped and his confidence flooded in. I’m not going to lie, there are times when I am silently clutching the seat, it is so hard not having any control. But to date, we haven’t had any accidents and we have even ventured out onto country roads now to give him a bit more of a varied driving experience.
The issue for me is that confidence is not necessarily the best thing. He feels happier behind the wheel but that does not equate to being a formula one driver. I seem to be saying, ‘slow down’ an awful lot. Our first proper drive on the country roads certainly gave him (and me) lots of things to think about as we met horses, large farm vehicles, cyclists, hill starts and more. Who knew the country roads would be so busy on a Sunday evening?
Hopefully, the driving instructor will be in touch soon and I will be very happy to hand over the reins to him for a while. In the meantime, we will keep going out on our little routes and fingers crossed there will be no bumps in the road ahead! Although with another teenager turning 17 next year, I may be back in the driving instructor seat again next year, but I am hopeful that things will have returned to normal by then and it will be an actual driving instructor in the hot seat instead of me.
My eldest is on a few waiting lists to start driving lessons. There is quite a wait, thanks Covid.
I remember having a few lessons with my dad and once you get past the stalling it is a lot easier. Good luck to your son. x
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That’s brilliant that you have been teaching him to drive! I really hope he can get an instructor soon.
My husband has been taking my son out since his 17th birthday and my husband is really good with it. I’ve taken him in recent weeks, now that he can actually drive and doesn’t need much input from me. He’s had probably 10 driving lessons with an instructor and has his test very soon. I’m very hopeful that he will pass because the wait for another test is really long!
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