Teaching a Child to Drive

The title of this post should be 'Oh Dear God Please Help Me!!!' My biggest problem is trying to sound relaxed and confident while Katie is driving. She is really careful and listens to what I say, so that's not the problem. It's just me. Inside my head is a whirlwind of dialog that goes something like 'Too fast too fast slow down turn now brake brake brake no no no speed up speed up use your blinker not her now turn' and sounds like it is being said by the Chipmunks at super speed. I try not to grasp the handle on the door with whitened knuckles. I try to give encouragement and softly worded corrections, but I can feel my hair turning gray on my head.

I let her drive from the high school to Wally World the other day. We stopped for gas and she learned how to pump her own and pay for it. Then we proceeded on and parked in the lot. I got out of the car and looked over at her to see her also standing outside of the car ready to head into the store. I waited a few seconds and them softly went 'ahem'. She looked at me blankly, looked around and then realized she had left the keys in the ignition and the car running!! I laughed so hard I may have peed myself. I drove home from the store, but only because she wanted to eat a snack on the way. This weekend is going to be Parking Camp. I am going to take 2 plastic garbage cans and her to the local empty parking lot and teach her to park. I will use the trash cans in the position of cars in the spots next to hers (both parallel parking and regular parking) and then let her practice getting in and out without destroying the garbage cans. I may have to take the video camera for this one. This might be Americas Funniest Home Videos fodder.

Her throat is a bit sore still but tons and tons better. So good that she was craving a Buffalo Chicken Salad and actually was able to eat some of it. She was practically floating on air afterwards. Her taste buds have come back too, so she was able to enjoy it. It's funny how important food becomes when you can't have it. (Much like going on a diet and then becoming obsessed with food.....Not that I have ever done that..hah!)

Speaking of appetites, Steve has become an insatiable pig lately. He has learned to beg for food by digging at the glass of the aquarium until we feed him. When I reach in to give him some dried shrimp he lurches up out of the water to meet my hand. He even has Nanny trained to feed him during the day. (She told me she fed him yesterday because he was 'actin a fool') Last night I think I heard him oink. Seriously. Every weekend Levi and I catch minnows in the pond for him and he goes absolutely nuts over them. He is very very fast when he is going after live food. Luckily we have the pond or we would be making trips to the pet store every week to get him fresh food. I think he may be destined to live in the pond, but he is so fun I hate to let him go!