Driving Lesson #1

I don't know who was scared the most, her or me.

Our oldest is 15 1/2 and starting to study for her Drivers License, so Dad (me, if you didn't guess already) had to take her out for her first Driving Lesson.
I have been hoping for and dreading this day from the day she was born.  Hoping for because it would show she is growing up and almost ready for life and its many challenges.  Dreading it because it would mean she was that much closer to growing up and no longer "Dad's little girl".

The challenge of a lifetime has reared its head.
I drive a standard and that means clutch and grinding gears.  I don't know if I was more afraid of her driving or her possibly ruining my clutch.  It started off with her grinding the gears to find reverse.  I was a bit worried at that point.  If she is grinding to find reverse would she be grinding the gears to find the other gears?

I kept it simple for both her and myself.  I had her drive a small little trek that was about 1/4 to half a mile long.  It had a few turns and two places she would have to reverse and turn around.
I was worried to say the least but proud that she was willing to attempt the challenge at hand.

She found it the most difficult to put it in reverse and turn around, which is understandable as she has never attempted anything like this before.  I found it the most difficult sitting there beside her and not saying something every two seconds and not getting frustrated at her attempts to shift gears.  Staying away from cars parked on the side of the road was another adventure.  The last thing either of us needed was for her to hit a car on the side of the road.

It was a first try behind the wheel of a car for her and she did rather well for the first time out.  She did the "grind'em and find em" only when she put the car in reverse and had no difficulty shifting to first and second gears.  The short stretch I had her on was only long enough to be in first or second gear.  Going beyond second gear will be after I have her driving that little bit with me not saying anything to her at all, then we will look at going further and shifting to third and fourth gears respectively.

Anyway, as I said, she did good for a first time.
The car is still running,
she didn't wreck,
and Dad's nerves are still intact.
So all in all it went well and there will be a Driving Lesson #2 sometime in the near future.

It is hard to believe but 15 1/2 years ago I was holding her in the crook of my arm and now I am teaching her to drive.  Where have the years gone and what challenges will we face together as I teach her to drive?

God only knows.

All I know is that she and I both survived Driving Lesson #1.

I hope you all have a good day
Danny