L-Plate Adventures

Turns out, the Easter long weekend isn’t the worst time for your kid to practise their driving. I was pretty against taking Janice out on the road when she first mentioned it, as I’d been looking forward to kicking back outside the steely grip of traffic. But I’m happy I agreed to it because, by Monday, she’d gotten a lot of hours in and improved her driving game significantly.

One of the adventures we managed to have together was having a flat tyre. Ringwood auto centres are plentiful, but most of them were closed due to the public holiday, so we had to DIY it. Luckily, I always keep a spare in the back and know roughly what I’m doing, and we were able to pull off a successful tyre change. I think it’s good for Janice to experience this. I mean, even if she still doesn’t know how to do, she won’t freak out as much if something like this happens down the track.

I’m always encouraging the kids to keep a cool head under unexpected circumstances, as I believe that that’s the best state from which to solve a problem efficiently. As well as during roadside tyre changes, it’s also a good way to be when seeing a mechanic for car servicing. Ringwood mechanics have been pretty good in my experience, as far as costs and things go, but it’s still handy to have a cool head on your shoulders.

All that aside, the sooner Janice can plow through her logbook hours and get on her Ps, the better for everyone – myself included. This thing is way more of a marathon than it was back in my day, let me tell you. I’m happy to teach my daughter to drive and all, but really, it’s a bit much. I don’t know what people are supposed to do if they don’t have two parents who can drive and both have the time to help.