Learning to drive...
When I was younger I couldn't wait to get behind the wheel. My Nanna never passed a test in her life and my own Mum had a pretty rocky history of driving lessons and tests (one instructor actually had a heart attack after her lesson!), so I was pretty determined to give it a shot, get my L plates on and get out on the roads.
Just recently, Soph had a little go at pretend driving - and well, you can see by her little face in that picture up there just how much she loved it!
Learning to drive was so much fun for me. I got to spend lots of time with my Dad terrifying him as I massively under-steered my old Escort, watching my Mum grip on to the dashboard as I reached high speeds (30mph) and seemingly endless driving lessons in and around Brighton and Hove.
Eventually I got my license and I was finally free to hit the roads with my best pal Lauren in my Seat Ibiza. What was the first thing we did? We went to MacDonald's drive through, just because we could. We listened to Madness - 'Driving in my car', just because we could and I suddenly became taxi to my friends, free to go wherever I pleased - heaven! The downside of course being that I suddenly had to maintain my own car, take it for MOT tests and became a taxi for my friends!
One thing I did struggle with was remembering what all the warning lights, buttons and dials did which resulted in numerous calls to Dad back in the day (I know, total girl). I love this funny little graphic from Go Girl to remind us what means what. I am actually a pretty amazing driver (if I do say so myself) but it's always handy to have things like this as a quick reference. You can see more tips and specialist insurance quotes from the Go Girl website.
I love that one day I will get to do all this with Alf & Soph and give them all that excitement and freedom that I enjoyed as a teen. It terrifies me the thought of them being on the road some day, but it's some years away thankfully and in the mean time they can stick to plastic pedal cars and matchbox versions!
Disclosure: Collaborative post with Go Girl.
