Right now Emily is at her first driver's ed class. A parent has to attend the first class and to my great relief Paul consented to take her.
I was happy about this on two counts. 1) I was busy enough today, with running Amy in to the DMV to get another license plus going with Paul's mom to my friend Mary Hake's mom's funeral and 2) I've seen those awful films at the first class twice now and they always send me over the waterfall and I wasn't sure I could handle them one more time. First you have the sappy teenagers laughing and saying, "My friends and I like to pile, like, 10 of us in a car and then see how close we can, like, get to the car beside us on the freeway without hitting them. Hahahahaha." Then you have parents (real ones!) telling their stories, such as this nice Southern lady who says, "And then Ah went daown the road, an' Ah seen this pickup truuuck lah-in in the di-yutch, an' Ah wen' up to that paramedic an' Ah sayyd, 'Sir?' an' he sayyd, 'Yes, Ma'am?' an' Ah sayyd, 'Was there a lil girl in that there pickup truuck?' an' he sayyd, 'Yes, Ma'am, there wuuzz,' an' Ah sayyd, 'Ah think that's mah lil girl.'"
That's when the dam always bursts for me. My guess is Paul will be slightly more stoic.
An' ah hope mah lil' girl learns to be a real nahss safe drahver.
Quote of the Day:
"From the first two words of this you can tell how the story's gonna go: 'Janice frowned.'"
--Emily, reading the Sunday school papers
Youor Southern drawl was delightful! My pastors wife is from the South and I could just hear her saying that! By the way, I dont like sitting through those films either.
ReplyDeleteOur kids know the drill by now. They go to Driver's Ed and then their license is nothing more than a plastic permit. My hubby is a Defensive Driving Instuctor for the BNSF Railway so they don't get "turned loose" until they can pass dad's driving test! The other day our 16 year old son (who isn't driving yet) was overheard telling a friend, "I can't go riding around with you. If my Mom isn't letting me drive on my own yet, she's certainly not letting me go running around with my friends."
ReplyDeleteI've seen it too many times;Kid gets license, parents relieved that they don't have to drive kids around anymore, kid gets maimed or killed in car accident because of inexperience, parent has to live with that the rest of their lives.
I don't have much time left with Charlie before he starts driving so I'm taking advantage of the time I have left. Sending your kids off solo, in the car for the firt time, is worse than sending them off to kindergarten on the school bus! YIKES!
By the way, living here in Texas, even the "professionals" sound like your Southern accent lady in the film! The funniest word I hear all the time:
Our Pastor says Whoa-mun instead of "woman"! Ha Ha!
Bye Y'all,
Connie
At least they're girls. One of my boys was used to driving 80 foot trawlers around the Indian Ocean. (Nothing to hit out there.) Trouble was he drove my car like he was still at sea! I still don't like driving with him.
ReplyDeleteDorcas, this is hysterical. Unfortunately, I can relate...four down, two to go. Sigh. I hope you put this in your column! Thanks for the great laugh.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've watched the film you mentioned. I hadn't thought about the fact of seeing it again with the next child.
ReplyDeleteI know Mary Hake, but have lost track of her address and email. Please let her know my prayers are with her. Thanks.