Motor skills

As parents we get to hear lots about developing motor skills (usually fine or gross) ... and then there are motor skills of a different kind!

There comes a time in every father’s life when they realise their little girl is growing up. She is nearly as tall as you are, can develop strong arguments and the mother-daughter thing can get explosive – particularly at certain times of the month.

She isn’t quite 15 yet but one day asks the question. "Dad, could you maybe take me to a car park and show me how to drive?" When I was young my father let me move the car up and down our driveway well before I was 15. I remember him whacking me for swerving for a dog that ran out when we went on our first on-road outing. Luckily my school had a drivers’ education program so the stress of learning went down for him and me. My experiences led me to believe that learning basic vehicle handling before facing traffic is a good thing.