Dear Parents,
A week of sunshine and cricket matches puts smiles on everyone’s faces this week, but for me a day of huge anxiety on Tuesday. Joseph’s driving test in Northampton has been looming for some time and, as this was not his first rodeo with attempting to pass, the pressure was building – particularly as it is getting harder and harder to secure a driving test, especially close to home. We had spent a good four hours on a round trip to Northampton on Sunday; Joseph driving and me in the passenger seat on You Tube, trying gamely to give him directions from typical test routes online. 45 minutes plus were devoted to parallel parking until we had nailed five on the bounce and stored that muscle memory and spatial awareness in advance of his test on Tuesday. We had never bothered with the ‘pull up on the right’ manoeuvre as it was considered straightforward but after my instruction to “Let’s just do one for good measure”, we found that such a simple action left us several feet from the kerb. More practice with that then and, as the wafts of burning clutch filtered through the window, it was time to drive home and leave Tuesday to Joseph’s (perfectly competent) driving and the DVLA testing gods.
The early portents were not good. Halfway up he texted me, “The tyre pressure light has gone on and the instructor can’t locate the reset button!” Once I had resolved that, “ … And now the seat belt light alarm won’t stop!” came through. My ever-technical and scientific advice of “Try turning the car off and on again” worked a treat and he was off, arriving at the test centre with minutes to spare. Trying desperately to busy myself with emails as I waited for news, eventually I received the message on our family chat in the form of a photo of a blue pass certificate. An overwhelming sense of relief and gushing love and praise followed from me and my wife, though his older brother rather unkindly simply added: “At last.” As a September birthday, Joseph is one of the first in his year group to pass and, more importantly for him, he has achieved something before his older brother who is still learning; one down, one to go.
I am afraid I can’t give any assurance that parenting gets any easier as boys get older but as they grow up, their experiences and characters become more wholesome and are genuinely enriched by the various ups and downs. Things may well have been more straightforward if he had passed first time but, if he had done, we would not have had the impact of that special moment on Tuesday. Sometimes you really do have to fail, to get the true sense of the win.
Have a good weekend,
Nick Baker