Soda cans, permits, parkings lots, and a 16-year-old

So I thought I’d have something really, really funny to blog. It turns out our Tiger’s Eye is a very, very cautious young man. I’d rather have that than blog about how many times I needed a brown paper sack. On our maiden voyage, ManCub, our very skeptical child, rode in the back; he commented he was bored. How’s that for having a responsible young guy having a driver’s permit?

We did discover a great secret to learning accuracy. It happened of its own accord and as the result of an indiscriminate litter bug who left a Monster can, upright, in the parking lot. I saw it, paused, and told Tiger’s Eye to crunch the heck out of it. After a few misses, trying with both the front passenger and driver’s side wheels, the most satisfying crunch occurred. I slammed down the rest of my soda, told him to go to another area of the parking lot, and tossed it into the center, attempting to make him try the same in reverse.

He drove right over it, still accurate. He put it in drive and it crunched beneath his wheel. It became a game, then, a relaxing opportunity in a wide-open space to learn the play of the wheel, the tightness needed for the turn, and backing up/going forward to get the car in the best position. I picked up the flattened can, shook off the excess soda, and showed him his good work. I got in the car, and he drove me to a plastic trash can, close enough to where I just opened my window and reached into the can, getting rid of my litter.

He admits to some shakiness now. Good. It’s harder than he thought, he said. I’m glad he realizes that. I think I’m going to save a lot of soda cans and chuck them all over the parking lot next time.

In my day, my first driving lesson included a 350-pound instructor and a drive-through. Seriously. The first thing I did as a driver was ask for fries with that.

As a reward, I let him take the perimeter road and take that puppy up to 20 mph, for about 100 yards. It seems so fast when you’re the passenger!

An hour of nighttime driving has been logged. My son inches closer to manhood, and I’m not dreading it as much as I thought.