Tag: driving

Are You Teaching Your Teen To Drive?

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Jennifer Wolfe

When I was 16, I couldn’t wait to get my license. I lived just outside the city limits, and having a license equaled freedom. I didn’t care what I drove, I just wanted to not have to ride my bike miles into town or to school.

Maybe it’s a first-born thing; when my daughter turned 16, she was ready. She had researched online driving schools, taken and passed her driver ed course and written test on her own, and scheduled her behind the wheel for the day she turned 16.

My son is a completely different story. He really seems to have a much more relaxed attitude about driving; he’s nearly 16, and only completed part of his online course. He’s taking it slow, not in a rush whatsoever.

I guess I shouldn’t rush it; it’s kind of like when your kids were learning to walk. With the first born, I couldn’t wait to see her take off. Once she did, I realized how stressful it was worrying about where she might slip and fall and all the mischeif she could get into!

It’s the same with driving; when the firstborn gets behind the wheel it’s a definite milestone, but when you’ve spent hours waiting up for them to drive home safely on a Saturday night, the thrill is kind of gone. Quickly.

Luckily, my girl is an awesome driver. But she hasn’t ever had the opportunity to participate in driving simulations to show her just how dangerous it can be to not know how to really handle a car in hazardous situations – she’s learned a bit on her own, unfortunately. The good news is that I just found out about a cool program sponsored by the Ford Motor Company – they’re going around to different cities to offer an Advanced Driver Training program, and they’re coming to the Sacramento area May 13-14. And the best part? It’s completely FREE! And we’re going! Want to join us?

Here are the details:

Ford Driving Skills for Life is a FREE program developed in 2003 in conjunction with the Governors Highway Safety Association and a panel of safety experts to address the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States – vehicle crashes.

Operated by the Ford Motor Company Fund, the award-winning DSFL program provides newly licensed teens the necessary skills for safe driving beyond what they learn in standard driver education programs. An emphasis is also placed on the dangers of distracted and impaired driving.

Teens will drive specially-equipped vehicles on road courses under the supervision of professional instructors, improving their skills in these key areas:

• Hazard Recognition • Vehicle Handling • Space Management •Speed Management • Reaction Time

• Braking and Stopping Distances • and how to Avoid the Dangers of Distracted and Impaired Driving.

WHERE: McClellan Park

3140 Peacekeeper Way

McClellan, CA 95652

WHEN: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, June 13 &14

Session 1 – 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (both days)

Session 2 – 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (both days)

REGISTER: Spaces are still available for the Ford Driving Skills for Life program. For more information or to register a teen driver for a session, please go to www.drivingskillsforlife.com. This website has useful resources for teen drivers, parents and educators.

We hope to see you there! Not in northern California? Check their website for a location near you!

Disclosure: mamawolfe received compensation for sharing information on the Ford Driving Skills For Life program. mamawolfe is not responsible for the accuracy of information presented or for the quality or safety of any products mentioned.

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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The Hardest Age

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

If you ask a parent of a newborn what’s the hardest age – babies or teens, I’d bet that they’d say babies. I probably would have myself. I couldn’t imagine anything more life changing than a colicky baby, screaming to be held, nursed, changed…you name it.

If you ask a parent of a toddler what’s the hardest age – toddlers or teens, they’d probably agree it was toddlers. Who wouldn’t agree that parents chasing around tippy, bobble headed two- year-olds and temper-tantrum throwing three year olds would want to change places with parents of sixteen-year-olds any day.

But if you ask me, I’d say parenting at any age has its challenges and absolute head shaking, I can’t-believe-this-is-my-life moments. I’m in one of those moments right now.

I am the parent of a sixteen-year-old licensed driver.

Somehow, I survived the torture of teaching her driving basics. Upon close inspection, I’m sure you could see the fingernail imprints left in the passenger seat’s armrest. Surely, I wore down the floor mats with my impulse-ridden imaginary braking. I guess I did something right, because she passed her behind-the-wheel test on the first try.

Adding her to our auto insurance policy wasn’t even that bad-I suppose parents of teenage boys have it worse in that regard. She took care of all of that herself, bought a new wallet to carefully display her new photo id, and even got a lanyard to responsibly clip her/our car keys onto. She hardly begs to drive the three blocks to her high school, and still rides her bike to the gym.

What do I have to complain about?

Nighttime. It terrifies me. It’s my baby, driving in the dark, alone-or worse-with other teens. It’s the parents who bow out of the pack and allow their teens to break the new law that forbids teens to drive their friends in the first year of their licensing. It’s the “I’ll be home before 11:00 p.m.” speech. Frankly, it’s every time I see her back out of the driveway and scrape the front end of our Prius against the sidewalk. Sheer terror.

It’s not that I don’t trust her-she has never given me reason not to. It’s not that I worry she’s going to get a ticket, drive drunk, or take off on a spontaneous road trip.

No, really what terrifies me about having a teenage driver is the same thing that made me lose sleep when she was a newborn, and collapse from exhaustion when she was three. It’s that overwhelming, mind-numbing, head shaking, I-can’t-believe-this –is-my-life feeling. It’s love. All-consuming, overwhelming, turn-me-into-a-fierce-protector kind of love. And watching her drive away breaks off a little bit of my heart every time.

Jennifer Wolfe

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My Car Is My Quiet Place

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

Call me weird, but I really like to sit in my car – it’s my quiet place. Alone.

It has nothing to do with driving-I like that, too, especially when it’s on the open highway. What I’m talking about are those rare moments when I’m completely locked in my glass bubble. The engine isn’t running, the radio is silent, and if I’m lucky, the rain is gently falling on the roof.

When I was a kid, I used to love going in our garage when it was raining just to listen to the soft, rhythmic sound of rain hitting the shake shingles. It felt safe, quiet, and I guess meditative, although I had no idea what that was at the time.

Today, I spend my days in an endless gurgle of people wanting, needing, and questioning. My continuous ‘response with a smile’ feels exhausting by 4p.m. and I find myself craving quiet. That is where the car comes in.

I don’t slip out to the garage and leave my family inside the house wondering what’s up with Mom. I don’t drive around the block searching for a place to park. Sometimes I do linger after I’ve arrived home, savoring the last of the NPR story, or taking a few deep breaths to center myself.

My car sitting time is often while I’m waiting for my son or daughter to finish a class, an activity, or some sport that doesn’t require spectating. It’s best when I park in a quiet neighborhood without many pedestrians peering in the windows. I prefer daylight quiet in my car, although I do keep a Halloween style skull lantern in my glove box to shed a little light as needed.

What do I do in the car? I sit. I write. I think. I grade the endless papers that my students provide me every day. I don’t like to talk on the phone, but I do occasionally check my email, play Words with Friends, or send a text or two. I write lots of blog posts, I do lesson plans, and once in awhile I’ll read a book or catch up on the newspaper. I even keep a blanket handy.

Once I did fall asleep – it was dark and after dinner – that felt a bit embarrassing and disorienting. As my teenage daughter would say, it was ‘sup-awk’ to wake up to the chatter of kids leaving their class knowing I had been snoring with the windows open!

Mostly I find that I breathe, sink into the seat, and just slow it down. I let my heartbeat match the rain, and concentrate on me. Most of the time people don’t notice me there, and I like that.

Now that I’m an adult, I don’t get to hear the rain on the roof of our house. The sound of rain hitting skylights just isn’t the same-it’s more of a ping than a satisfying thud. But when I’m alone inside my car I hear it all-rain, the wind, birds, dogs, and passers-by all create a meditative backdrop to my thoughts.

As a turtle needs to retreat into its shell to protect its soft body, as a chipmunk scurries into its hole, and as a rabbit retreats to its den, I need a place to go and shut out the world. The demands of a job and a family can, just for a moment, stay outside the bubble. Safe, dry, and protected, I can breathe in and out, and find my center again.

Call me weird, but I really like to sit in my car. Alone. Quietly. What about you? Where’s your quite place?

Jennifer Wolfe

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Driving Lessons Part One: The Early Years

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

“Well, at least now I know not to floor it going into the driveway while cutting off people and scraping the front of the car on the curb,” my 15 year old daughter reflected after putting the car into park.

We all know that this day is coming. Parents are always marking off the milestones with our children-first tooth, first steps, first words, first day of school, first loose tooth, first ….driving lesson?

I decided to handle this milestone by putting the responsibility with my daughter. If she wanted to drive, she needed to be mature and responsible enough to make it happen. She would be obligated to research the online driver’s training course, sign up and complete the requirements. All I needed to do was provide the credit card number.

So she did.

Then it was time to take the written test. Again, the ball was in her court. She must research the hours of the DMV, figure out how to set up an appointment, make the appointment, study for the test and then show up and take it. All I needed to do was drive her there.

So she did.

Turns out the written test wasn’t as easy as she thought. She needed to figure out a different way to study and approach the test. All I needed to do was buy the DMV app from iTunes. That would buy me a few more weeks.

So I did.

I have a determined sort of daughter, it turns out. She studied and studied and eventually passed. The look on her face when she realized that she had gotten 100% was one I’ll never forget! My elation diminished quickly when I realized the next step: behind the wheel.

Again, she had to do the set up. Some might call this denial on my part – I call it strategy. Each step she accomplished on her own showed me that she was mature enough to handle driving, and allowed me a bit of time to get used to the idea.

When the day came for her first lesson I trembled with nervousness like she was going on her first date. Her white haired instructor, Luther, pulled up and quickly took her to his car. This milestone wasn’t as satisfying as her first word or her first steps. This one stung a little.

After what seemed like hours sitting in the driveway behind the wheel, she slowly backed out and drove off. My baby-behind the wheel of a bright blue Honda.

Two hours later she returned. No bumps or bruises or tear stains on her face. Her coy smile told me everything went ok, and Luther confirmed it. “A bit fast on the turns” was his only comment, aside from telling me that she now NEEDED TO DRIVE EVERY TIME WE GOT IN THE CAR!

What? Did I hear him correctly? Every time? There must be some other way…some type of driving simulator? My little red Prius doesn’t have a driver’s side set of brakes-how will I survive?

Like her first steps, her first words and the first day of school, I survived. The fear of the unknown haunts me as a parent. I knew what life was like when she could only crawl, would make baby signs for things she needed, or was only in preschool part of the day. I could never imagine how it could be any better than that moment, or how any age could me more special. But somehow, it was, and so is she.

Watching my first baby behind the wheel makes me think about all the lessons she’s learned in the last 15 years. She has learned the confidence it took to research the driving school. She has learned the responsibility it took to complete the online course. She has learned the determination it took to keep studying for the written test. She learned the poise it took to drive off in an unknown car with a strange man. And she’s learned that her mom trusts her enough to put her in charge of a lethal weapon – my little red Prius.

I hope she is learning how much I believe in her. I know she can do anything she sets her mind to.

To be continued…

mamawolfe spends her days teaching and parenting, and her nights writing about it.

Visit her blog mamawolfe for more life lessons and opinions on the world today

Jennifer Wolfe

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Disclosure: mamawolfe received compensation for sharing information on the Ford Driving Skills For Life program. mamawolfe is not responsible for the accuracy of information presented or for the quality or safety of any products mentioned.

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