Daughter driving to learn left from right

These are the dog days of summer when children often get bored with their lazy existence but are still in denial about the upcoming start of another school year.

Thankfully, life's not boring when you have a teenager.

Becca has spent the summer behind the wheel every chance possible. I can't even sneak out to the convenience store to gas up the car without her rushing ahead of me to get into the driver's seat.

She loves driving.

I'm still holding on for dear life, but so far I've come away unscathed.

Actually, Becca is a pretty good driver except when she's backing out of driveways or turning. On the straightaway, she's great.

Her biggest problem is knowing her left from her right.

Of course, kids learn all about left and right in elementary school. Becca learned it too.

But when she gets behind the wheel of a car she suddenly has difficulty remembering left from right. This makes giving directions an adventure.

I spend a lot of time frantically motioning with my hands for Becca to turn right or left. These last-minute turns can be dramatic.

Naturally, we could just avoid making any turns but we'd be hard pressed to get anywhere in town.

When she does make a smooth turn, Becca's ready to celebrate.

At 15, she gets a thrill out of just parking between the yellow lines or traversing the drive-through lane without hitting anything.

I can't help but smile at her youthful enthusiasm.

For most adults, driving is just a way to get from Point A to Point B. It's not recreation.

But teenagers see it differently. To them, a trip across town is a delightful journey.

Having another driver in the family could be useful when it comes to the family taxi service.

At least, Becca tells us that. But Joni and I aren't convinced.

We doubt Becca will want to haul her younger sister, Bailey, around town.

Still, it's hard not be mesmerized by Becca's sheer excitement over this thing we call driving.

She has made every car trip seem like a rare journey. At least, that's how she perceives it.

Becca's little adventures behind the wheel can't compare to a kazoo band, but they come close.

A 1980s funk and disco group recently attempted to break the world record for the largest kazoo ensemble.

But the effort in Harlem fell short of the more than 2,600 impromptu musicians needed, The Associated Press reported. Still, more than 2,000 kazoo musicians assembled for the event.

The current kazoo record was set this past New Year's Eve in Rochester, N.Y. Before that, the record was 1,791 kazoo players, assembled in Quincy, Ill., in 2004.

Perhaps Southeast Missouri State University should consider trying to break the record at its new River Campus.

The sound of thousands of kazoos on the grounds overlooking the Mississippi River would leave people speechless.

Some say the instrument was an instant classic, ever since its invention in the 1840s.

I doubt, however, that Becca and her fellow high school cheerleaders would agree to play kazoos. It just wouldn't be cool.

Becca would be far more interested in seeing how many times she could get behind the wheel of our van in a single day.

I wouldn't be surprised if we're putting more miles on our vehicles this summer than usual thanks to Becca's insistence on driving everywhere.

More trips mean more time behind the wheel, and more chances to learn her left from her right.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.