Driving lessons put father to the test

Moms and dads keep their own calendar when it comes to family life.

They track their children's development by more than birthdays. Driver training is one of those signposts.

Our teenage daughter, Becca, has been begging me to give her a driving lesson.

My wife, Joni, has questioned Becca's desire to rely on me as a driving instructor. Joni insists I'm not a good driver. She thinks I drive too fast and steer too sharply. Joni's always telling me that I flunked the "milk bottle" test. In other words, my driving would knock over the imaginary milk bottle on the dashboard.

I've never understood such thinking. If the milk bottle's imaginary, I'm not concerned about knocking it over.

At any rate, Becca chose me to give her a driving lesson. After weeks of excuses, I finally agreed.

Last Saturday, I drove our red van to the local career and technology center parking lot. For nearly two hours, Becca drove around the parking lot with me giving her instructions from the front passenger seat. Our younger daughter, Bailey, also tagged along.

She watched the unfolding lesson from the back seat.

I don't know if she initially came along to see if Becca wrecked the van, but as it turned out, she seemed almost as excited about Becca's driving as Becca was.

Becca was thrilled to be behind the steering wheel. Even signaling turns was a major occasion for her.

Other than almost backing into a light pole, she did just fine. It's amazing how well teenagers can drive on an empty parking lot.

But I admit I was a little fearful when I first let her take the wheel.

After all, there were three cars in the parking lot. I wasn't sure if Becca could steer clear of those cars. But I quickly discovered she could.

Driving along at 5 mph, she steered gingerly at first. She repeatedly put on the brakes.

Before long she was driving across the lot at 10 mph. She inched into a parking space, maneuvering the van into the space as if she were docking a giant ship.

She put her foot on the brake and put the car in park. Then she got out of the car and inspected her parking feat.

She jumped up and down for joy. She had managed to keep the van within the boundaries of the yellow lines.

I was thrilled, too. I was still alive.

Over the course of the driving lesson, Becca even managed to drive the van slowly around the career center building.

Before Saturday, I had never spent that much time driving past the career center. One thing's for certain, it's a pretty impressive building even at the slowest of speeds.

I chose the career center parking lot as Becca's training ground because I figured it would be relatively empty on a Saturday. Besides, center director Rich Payne's constantly telling me about the wide range of training one can get on his campus.

In that respect, I couldn't think of a better place for a little driver training, with or without the "milk bottle" test.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.