Temporary Driver's Permits are a right of passage. Temps are one of the steps of moving towards adulthood - breaking free from your dependence on your parents. Most parents find this very stressful and yes, I am one of them. As you may have guessed, my twins have reached this point in life and have recently been given the privilege of obtaining theirs.
Quite frankly, I think I was more excited than them to go take the test than they were! I am sure the majority of parents dread their kids gaining this type of independence - I am NOT one of those. If you have ever read my blog, you know just exactly how much time I spend in the car. At this point, I am over it and ready to turn over some of the responsibility, even if it means I am home with out a car to drive. Okay that last sentence was a complete and total lie! I can't imagine being stuck at home with no way to leave for an extended period of time but I might learn to live with it for an hour or two. Anyway, we were on our way to the DMV and it occurred to me, what if one passes and one doesn't??? Crap! I didn't even think about how I would deal with a situation like that. Luckily, they both passed, we got their temps and two lovely "Student Driver" self cling stickers for the car window(s). Guess what? Those self proclaimed self cling stickers wouldn't stick to the car window! The girls got a lecture that their temps and driver's license, when given, were a privilege and could be revoked by their father or I at any time until they were 18 years old *evil laugh*. Oh and then there was one more thing, a paper for me. This paper will need to be signed by myself or their father stating we drove with them at least fifty hours while they had their temps before they can get their actual license.
A day or two went by and I felt ready to tackle the first driving lesson. I needed to pick Olivia up from a friends' after gymnastics anyway and Sarah wanted to come along. Abigail was the most eager so she hopped in the passenger seat and off we went to the high school parking lot. We went over some of the basics of the car, adjusting mirrors and seats, where the lights were, turning signals and all that jazz. She is ready to go. We drove around the parking lot for a while and finally it was time to head on over to get Olivia. I asked her if she felt comfortable enough to go on the open road and she said yes. We decided we would stay on back roads for every one's safety. As we turned out of the parking lot, I was still feeling pretty confident in my teaching ability. After all, my girls have four wheelers, they have driven our vehicles short distances on our land - this is going to be easy. Or not.
She turned out on the road, proceeded to the stoplight - so far, so good. We continue straight, go a little ways and I have to decide on the best route. Now, we live in a rural area and there are lots of options, my option turned out not to be the best. But as they say, all best laid plans...... Not to mention, it was dusk and rural. Yeah, in hindsight, I must have had a screw loose this night. Anyway, we turn on to Palmer Road and at first it's okay, it straight enough. We travel a little ways and it's time for a turn - Okay not terrific but we are all alive. Another turn - not great but it's okay she is just learning. However, it is growing darker by the minute. A sane person would say, lets pull over and I will drive the rest of the way, right? Well we all know I am clearly not sane and thus let her continue on. Sarah is being a pretty good sport, though I am sure she was getting nervous.
Alright we are now at 310 and she must turn right and immediately turn left - she does so and though her turns weren't great, we all survived! What I forgot about this particular route was just exactly how curvy this road is. As a seasoned driver you don't think about these sort of things because you know how to take curves....until you are in the passenger seat with a student driver, on a country road in the dark and it's too late. Let's just say, we made it out alive but not without me grabbing the steering wheel and screeching from the backseat that went exactly like this: OH MY GOSH! MY HEART HURTS!!! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! MY HEART JUST EXPLODED! Followed by tears. I am pretty sure that Sarah had a little panic attack. I in turn was laughing so hard at Sarah's exclamations that I nearly peed my pants. We finally got to our destination, picked up Olivia and I drove back home.
A few days later, ya know, after I got my nerves back, I decided it was time for Emma's lesson. Abigail wanted to come along to work on her turns, so once again we pile in to the car and head for the a local school which I had been told had a permanent student driver set up. We arrived and I gave Emma the same tour of the vehicle that I had given to Abigail. I turned over the keys and we began to cruise the parking lot. She did okay until we got to the cones. At first, she maneuvered really well through the cones, in and out. Great job Emma! Now this time go the other direction. Well we can't all be good at everything, right? She demolished two cones and decided she was done. Abigail drover us home.
What I learned from this experience is I am apparently a great teacher (minus my lapse in judgement on night driving on the first time out) for one child and a horrible teacher for the other. Guess what Scott? You get to teach Emma. Honestly, he is much better equipped to teach Emma anyway! She is in need of technical definitions. I take no issue with waving the white flag and tapping out. He took her a week later and she had no hesitation in telling me he was a MUCH better teacher than me. It's okay, really, I do not mind one bit! His nerves were shot and I welcomed him to the world of our children's driving education. After all, there are just some areas of parenting that must be shared.
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Catch Up
I know I am a totally irresponsible blogger. I come and go as I please and don't update very often. My explanation is simple - I have a life outside of this computer. If I hadn't got married at twenty, had four kids and put said kids in activities, I would have way more time to entertain. However, had I not done all of those crazy things, I would have nothing exciting to blog about, right?
To catch you all up, there have been more changes in this household since I last blogged. I may or may not have already covered them but I am not going back to read over my past blogs to see. This being said, I am sure my take on them now will be different than before, so sit back and enjoy my musings.
OPERATION CROCK POT RECAP - It is truly a great idea in theory. I managed to complete, give or take, twenty-five meals. There are some major flaws in this idea of pre-making meals as you will see below:
Okay, I have to be honest, I said I wasn't going to go back and browse through my old blogs - I did. Confession complete.
Olivia is still loving her new gym. I still love not working at the drug store. Lots of things to love. But then there was just one more thing, dance.....
In the fall, Olivia and Abigail started taking ballet technique classes at a brand new studio. This new studio is fantastic and complete with retired professional dancers, who now want to teach. Both girls have learned so much and I definitely believe it is worth every penny it has cost. However, with change there is always fall out.
Abigail, especially, has thrived in this new environment! She has learned about new and different techniques. Her execution of the old has improved and she is happy there. Originally this addition was merely meant to be a supplement. It quickly became obvious this was in no way going to be a supplemental situation - she wanted it all the time. She decided the following dance season that she would be moving dance studios all together.
*Enter Drama - Stage Left*
As you can imagine, making a decision to leave a studio you have been at for several years is not easy -add in a teaspoon of teenage girl, one cup of women and what you have is the beginnings of a spicy disaster! For the record, it is a dish best served cold!
Now I am going to put this right out there - Why yes women, I am throwing us all under the bus!" Get over it. I don't care who you are, if you are a woman you are 100% capable of drama, myself included. In my flimsy defense, I have a whole lot of no patience for drama created outside of myself and therefore my reactions to drama are swift and not always well thought out. While my swift reactions aren't always well thought out, I rarely have regrets about making them. This is how I roll - sorry haters!
In the months building up to the complete change of studios, there was a lot of unspoken animosity. Then slowly but surely the animosity became verbal. It was never specifically addressed just little jabs here and there. One episode was about shoes. Abigail had some money and wanted to buy herself a pair of lyrical shoes. *Mom does touchdown dance* I took her to the dance store and rather than buying the usual foot undies, she decided on a pair of crossover lyrical shoes (I can never remember what they are called). She decided on them because she knew she would eventually be moving to the new studio and wanted to be prepared. I, being optimistic, suggested she take them with her to assist at old studio one night. I suggested because she was excited about them and it wasn't her night to dance - in my mind, a good opportunity to get a feel for them. Mom's out there, you do not always know best! I know it's Mother's Day weekend and all but I can not even lie in hindsight and say it was the most brilliant idea I ever had. Words were spoken to Abigail about the shoes.
Between January and the time we finally left, several other incidents happened. I won't bore you with all the mundane details, just know my daughter was made to feel very uncomfortable on more than one occasion. I will also say whether real or perceived, it could have all gone down very differently if Abigail had more life experience. This is not the case, she is merely 15 years old and still learning how to deal with difficult situations. I, however, am an adult with a lot of life experience and know how I handle these issues - head on.
Competition season began and we made it through all of the drama...well almost all of it. The very last competition weekend came, they spicy disaster exploded and that was that. Even before Abigail's last performance that weekend, I made a decision - one more thing and I am done. Guess what? Oh, I already gave it away, something else happened! I was done. My decision to leave did not come without pain. Abigail lost her little students, whom she loved dearly and never got an opportunity to say goodbye too. I lost a friend.
What Abigail has gained far out measures the losses. It was incredibly difficult to watch her suffer the loss of comfortable and I am sure she thinks I am a total psycho now. My hope is she understands now that while change is hard, it is a necessary evil to grow and to learn. That everything worthwhile comes with a little bit of anguish and the end result can bring the greatest of accomplishments. If she thinks I am a little psycho, that's okay too! A good healthy fear of your Mom going off the rails sometimes is acceptable.
In other news, my husband got promoted at work, we are 100% free of rental properties and life is a lot calmer around here. I know this isn't great news for all of you, but for me, it's about damn time! Sarah is taking Irish Step Dancing at the new studio - it is hilarious but I think after a few more lessons, she is going to be amazing at it. Emma is still a recluse, getting good grades - bragging opportunity here: She even got an academic letter! Oh and even more exciting for the twins, not so much the parental units, they got their temps. That in and of itself requires a whole other post, will try to get to that later!
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
To catch you all up, there have been more changes in this household since I last blogged. I may or may not have already covered them but I am not going back to read over my past blogs to see. This being said, I am sure my take on them now will be different than before, so sit back and enjoy my musings.
OPERATION CROCK POT RECAP - It is truly a great idea in theory. I managed to complete, give or take, twenty-five meals. There are some major flaws in this idea of pre-making meals as you will see below:
- Remembering you have labored in the kitchen to pre-make crock pot meals
- Remembering to pull one out of the freezer the night before
- Trying to pry one of the bags apart from the other stack of meals
- Remember to put them in crock pot the next morning
- Remember to turn crock pot on
- Convincing youngest child that eldest child is a liar, it tastes great!
- Cleaning crock pot over and over again (*note to self* buy liners for crock pot)
Okay, I have to be honest, I said I wasn't going to go back and browse through my old blogs - I did. Confession complete.
Olivia is still loving her new gym. I still love not working at the drug store. Lots of things to love. But then there was just one more thing, dance.....
In the fall, Olivia and Abigail started taking ballet technique classes at a brand new studio. This new studio is fantastic and complete with retired professional dancers, who now want to teach. Both girls have learned so much and I definitely believe it is worth every penny it has cost. However, with change there is always fall out.
Abigail, especially, has thrived in this new environment! She has learned about new and different techniques. Her execution of the old has improved and she is happy there. Originally this addition was merely meant to be a supplement. It quickly became obvious this was in no way going to be a supplemental situation - she wanted it all the time. She decided the following dance season that she would be moving dance studios all together.
*Enter Drama - Stage Left*
As you can imagine, making a decision to leave a studio you have been at for several years is not easy -add in a teaspoon of teenage girl, one cup of women and what you have is the beginnings of a spicy disaster! For the record, it is a dish best served cold!
Now I am going to put this right out there - Why yes women, I am throwing us all under the bus!" Get over it. I don't care who you are, if you are a woman you are 100% capable of drama, myself included. In my flimsy defense, I have a whole lot of no patience for drama created outside of myself and therefore my reactions to drama are swift and not always well thought out. While my swift reactions aren't always well thought out, I rarely have regrets about making them. This is how I roll - sorry haters!
In the months building up to the complete change of studios, there was a lot of unspoken animosity. Then slowly but surely the animosity became verbal. It was never specifically addressed just little jabs here and there. One episode was about shoes. Abigail had some money and wanted to buy herself a pair of lyrical shoes. *Mom does touchdown dance* I took her to the dance store and rather than buying the usual foot undies, she decided on a pair of crossover lyrical shoes (I can never remember what they are called). She decided on them because she knew she would eventually be moving to the new studio and wanted to be prepared. I, being optimistic, suggested she take them with her to assist at old studio one night. I suggested because she was excited about them and it wasn't her night to dance - in my mind, a good opportunity to get a feel for them. Mom's out there, you do not always know best! I know it's Mother's Day weekend and all but I can not even lie in hindsight and say it was the most brilliant idea I ever had. Words were spoken to Abigail about the shoes.
Between January and the time we finally left, several other incidents happened. I won't bore you with all the mundane details, just know my daughter was made to feel very uncomfortable on more than one occasion. I will also say whether real or perceived, it could have all gone down very differently if Abigail had more life experience. This is not the case, she is merely 15 years old and still learning how to deal with difficult situations. I, however, am an adult with a lot of life experience and know how I handle these issues - head on.
Competition season began and we made it through all of the drama...well almost all of it. The very last competition weekend came, they spicy disaster exploded and that was that. Even before Abigail's last performance that weekend, I made a decision - one more thing and I am done. Guess what? Oh, I already gave it away, something else happened! I was done. My decision to leave did not come without pain. Abigail lost her little students, whom she loved dearly and never got an opportunity to say goodbye too. I lost a friend.
What Abigail has gained far out measures the losses. It was incredibly difficult to watch her suffer the loss of comfortable and I am sure she thinks I am a total psycho now. My hope is she understands now that while change is hard, it is a necessary evil to grow and to learn. That everything worthwhile comes with a little bit of anguish and the end result can bring the greatest of accomplishments. If she thinks I am a little psycho, that's okay too! A good healthy fear of your Mom going off the rails sometimes is acceptable.
In other news, my husband got promoted at work, we are 100% free of rental properties and life is a lot calmer around here. I know this isn't great news for all of you, but for me, it's about damn time! Sarah is taking Irish Step Dancing at the new studio - it is hilarious but I think after a few more lessons, she is going to be amazing at it. Emma is still a recluse, getting good grades - bragging opportunity here: She even got an academic letter! Oh and even more exciting for the twins, not so much the parental units, they got their temps. That in and of itself requires a whole other post, will try to get to that later!
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
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