You are here

Anyone else have a skid with a driving learner's permit?

CBCharlotte's picture

SD15 got her driving learner's permit a few months ago. Here in NC, kids can get their permit at 15, have it for a year until 16 (must drive a certain number of hours, I think 60) then they get a junior license with graduated laws until they are 18.

BM, SO, and I have been starting to teach her to drive. She is actually pretty good....she is cautious, but not too slow. She's not a know it all and logs her hours carefully. We just need to practice parking and left turns a little bit more. SO has a BMW X3 and I have a VW Eos so it is good she is learning to drive a variety of cars and sizes.

She prefers driving with me because I get less nervous than her parents, according to her. It is easier to be less emotionally invested when it is not your kid, maybe? Her mom has "invisible brake pedal syndrome" and her dad has "gripping the door handle and arm rest for dear life syndrome" haha.

Her dad is always forgetting to give her directions well in advance of the directional change....TURN RIGHT HERE doesn't work....you have to say "Turn right at that next light up ahead, in about 700 feet" and she is more calm about it.

How about you guys? Do you teach your skids to drive? How are they doing? Any tips?

Comments

misSTEP's picture

We helped with both skids as much as we could only having them EOWe. I just told them what I could remember from my Behind the Wheel class that stayed with me. Also did the safety talks that probably went in one ear and out the other.

My mom always says that you can tell my dad taught ME how to drive because we both drive like "maniacs". I have to remind her that my dad also taught HER how to drive and she drives like an old lady!

classyNJ's picture

Myself and SS17 SF did most of the teaching. BM did the same and waited until the last minute to tell him to turn and then would proceed to scream. DH only let him drive twice, with me in the passenger seat and him in the back hiding his head.

SS17 is a pretty good driver - all thanks to us "steps" and our patience. Honestly we both couldn't wait to get out of the pick up/drop off stuff LOL

Sports Fan's picture

BSstb17 has had his permit for 10 months. His BD has did nothing in regards to teaching him so it is all on my shoulders to do. I am an anxious driver whenever anyone else is driving so it hasn't been easy but I have been teaching him. In the beginning I realized it was going to be really hard for me to do so I had BS take 4 1-hour driving lessons. This got him up to a level where I was more comfortable. I recently purchase a used car for him as neither of us is very comfortable with him driving my brand new car. He did a lot better with the used car as it is a sedan and my car is an SUV. BS will hopefully be going to community college and will need the car to commute so I want him to get his license in the next couple of months and then get a part time job during his senior year of high school since he doesn't have a full schedule.

Tuff Noogies's picture

went through this with oss17. he also knows everything, so dh handled him. i did teach him parallel parking, tho. he passed his road test the very first time.

we're about to go thorough it again w/ mss15. he's generally more cautious and listens well, so i'm sure i'll have a hand in teaching him. what worries me about him is that he can be pretty airheaded. he's already failed the written permit test a few times.

yss11, when he does get old enough - that'll be ALL on dh.

mommy0104's picture

As much as I don't get along with my skids, I really wish that DH would've been able to help teach them to drive. SD17 has her permit right now (she lives in Florida, and has had to have the permit for a year, so at the end of this month she'll be getting her license). But since she moved out of state before she got her permit, there was no way DH could have helped teach her...and SD21 only took lessons from BM when she had her permit..when the skids were coming here EOW, BM made OSD leave her permit at home. She refused to let DH help teach OSD how to drive..which is crazy because BM is what we call "lead foot Larry" and is a maniac driver lol. DH actually drives for a living and other than some minor "man road rage", is an excellent driver. My bio-son(14) will get his learner's permit next year...Lord help us all Biggrin I think it would've benefited the skids to learn from both parents,.but it is what it is..and other than being a bit of a speed demon, OSD is a decent driver so I'm sure SD17 will be too. Smile

ChiefGrownup's picture

Taught my nephew to drive a stick shift. Apparently my sister had made a sirens blaring incoming missiles NASA disaster of it which I can well believe. And my brother in law hadn't done much better.

I took the kid on an adventure where we drove across desert state to state. I found a nice stretch of frontage road where we could really be alone. That's where he got to practice. No pressure cuz desert. I just kept very calm, laughed off every mistake, told him he was doing great. Every time he popped the clutch I assured him every stick shift owner does it at least once a week even after years of driving. That was an exaggeration (no one does it every week but, sure, now and again) but it helped him relax.

Yes, specific instructions that create a map in the head well before action is needed is very important in my view. And graduated steps. After we tried frontage road a couple of times, I let him have a smooth stretch of highway. Ultimately he tackled town driving. Within a few weeks he was quite good at it and he was so grateful. I let him drive my car all summer.

One of my fun memories, actually!

Aniki-Moderator's picture

PrincASS15 (16 in July) has his driving permit. I won't do a damn thing to teach him how to drive because he's a princASS. BioHo is a TERRIBLE driver - you now the kind...drives with her knee while texting with both hands. BioHo taught SDstb19 how to drive. SD is ALSO a terrible driver. I swear, that girl takes corners on 2 wheels. DH has taken PrincASS out one time. I told DH no way in HADES will I ever be in the car if PrincASS is driving. "Why??" "Because BioHo has been teaching him and she's in-facking-sane!!"