We started a lot like @mommdc - a nearly abandoned mall was great because it had lane markings, stop signs and parking spots.
You definitely have to make getting those hours in a priority. If you only take your kid out when you need to run errands, it will take that much longer. With both my girls, we drove and drove and drove. We practiced going to school, various extra curricular sites, etc. on off days to concentrate on driving versus getting there on time.
With my oldest, she had the gift of learning mostly in the summer so we went out every day. With my current learning driver, we have to do it mostly on the weekends because of school conflicts. My oldest was a better driver sooner just because of consistency, but my new one is getting there. Right now she has 20 hours in (needs 50 to take her test) since January. Once school is done we will ramp it up.
I never took my oldest on the Interstate - the driving school did. I also never taught her to parallel park (they do that with cones here). The driving school told us parents to not bother, that they had a method that works.
We are in the throws of teaching DD20 to drive, our current challange is changing lanes in traffic, he wants to slow down and then the cars behind pull ahead to pass. For those familiar with Austin, he drove from SW Austin on 290 to MoPac north to 183 west on Saturday afternoon and lived to tell about but we won’t be doing that again anytime soon! 183 was particularly challenging because the right lane keeps on ending and you have to keep merging left. Thankfully both DH and I were in the car with him to help “spot”.
He has to be able to get his DL by August because he’ll need to drive himself to school since DS18 will have graduated. He goes to an out of distric high school about 30/45 minutes away depending on traffic and will need to be able to handle highway driving.
@Booajo, USC (Southern Cal) is a fabulous choice, as you know. Glad you were able to work it out as a family. Mark September 15th in your calendar. Should be a great game against Texas. I plan to be in Austin for that game, although with family who attended both schools, not sure who I’ll be rooting for!
Because the kids are 18, they don’t need any set number of supervised hours, so I guess I will just try to go out several times a week with each of them during the summer and hope they will be ready by August. My husband isn’t able to right now because of a medical problem, but with luck he will be able to share the duties by July.
Congrats @Booajo !! And still 1 1/2 days until the deadline!!! Your son made the decision early after all ! That’s a great school he chose & I’m glad it all worked itself out.
Just looked up Parents Weekend in Athens and although they have not formally announced the date, it appears it can only be two possible weekends this fall. Most hotels in downtown Athens are sold out for the weekend in mid September that will likely be Parents Weekend (probably sell out for any home game too), but luckily found one room left at a great location downtown and walking distance to the stadium. Also bought two 50 yard line tix on StubHub for the game. Most of the moms on here are planning for dorm decorations/move in or orientation dates now, but us dads gotta take care of the important stuff like football tickets for the fall :-).
It depended on the school and the type of communications she’d had with them. For large publics, D just clicked the appropriate buttons on the portals. For an LAC where she’d been recruited as an athlete, she first notified the head coach, then sent an email to her admissions officer.
@Booajo Congratulations on the decision! Fight on! @Nomorelurker I think if would’ve been pretty funny if all our kids had gone with the West Coast option, and we three could’ve met up during move in! Speaking of football, it will be a new experience for me to have “skin in the game” (as it were) this season. Between the Bulldogs, Trojans, and my son’s early favorite Badgers, it will be an exciting next four years! And here’s a true story, as hafadad and I were discussing our S:
hafadad: So what does his schedule look like?
me: They play Michigan on Sept. 1st.
hafadad: I meant, when does he go on Christmas break? (eyeroll)
=))
@hafamama, hafadad clearly has the right priorities! Don’t forget the Trojans on November 24th this year. Even though they didn’t bump up S from Presidential to Trustee, I might have to root for them to avenge last year’s loss to ND! Could be tough with a new QB. Looking for Sam Darnold to do great things for the Jets.
@Nomorelurker Hehehehe, you know who watches football at our house! @3monkeys@newenglandjane I think the coin toss = gut reaction plan would work well for many other issues. I look forward to learning about the final decision!
Congratulations to all of the recent acceptances!!
Our college selection journey has ended. After a week of deep thought, discussion, and a pro and con list between her two final schools, D will be attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall! Go Irish!
Speaking of football, it will be a new experience for me to have “skin in the game” (as it were) this season. Between the Bulldogs, Trojans, and my son’s early favorite Badgers, it will be an exciting next four years! And here’s a true story, as hafadad and I were discussing our S: