Driving

July 11, 2007

My DD (Miz, 19) got her driver's license last week!

She has had a lot of practice time with me, this

summer (though during her college time this year, she

had no practice). I also paid for two sessions of two

hours' each with a driving instructor from a driving

school. He took her through the whole driving test

that the DMV would do, even doing this right from the

DMV parking lot! He then recommended a few weeks' more

practice, which we did. In addition to practicing

driving, I've got little Matchbox cars and drawn out

various driving situations on paper and used the toy

cars to demonstrate parking, merging onto the freeway,

making various turns, and so on. I've noted all her

glitches and mistakes and asked her why she chose

those moves, and what she needed to do, instead. This

is about twice as much practice and instruction as I

had to give my son (16) when I taught him to drive. It

came naturally for him. Miz has had to work harder,

and she still needs additional instruction. I am going

to do as much as I can before she returns to college

(three hours from here). I think the biggest OCDism

that plagues her is her tendency to act like she is

the only one on the road! By this, I mean that

sometimes she will just stop before completing a right

turn, kind of questioning whether or not she can

safely move forward. Meanwhile, of course, the end of

the van is sticking out into the lane she was leaving

and blocking traffic! The moments of " doubt "

definitely interfere with her safety in driving. I am

helping her think this out, visualize it with the toy

cars, " feel it " as I drill her on various skills in

the car, and talk it out, daily.

in VA

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