I know that I'm not all washed up. I know I have many good years ahead of me. I'm not dumb or close-minded. But I know when I am just not "getting it" and that, chances are, I never will. I'm talking about learning to drive a stick-shift in a foreign country. I tried...a little...then I GAVE UP!!! Now, I don't want to point any fingers here, but my lovely husband thought that it wasn't a big deal. Just take a couple hours to learn how to drive the standard car we had been loaned (because our new automatic car would take 10 weeks to arrive) and then start driving myself and my three children all over a strange city! Don't worry if you don't know the rules of the road yet, just wing it! Don't let the aggressive Swedish drivers upset you with their rolling stops. Don't worry about directions, just plug in the GPS and go! Coffee mornings, play dates, birthday parties....what's the big deal? Well, I thought I had it licked. I could manage the drive to and from the school, if the kids were absolutely silent in the backseat, and if no one needed to stop in front of me on an incline. But the nightmares and shaking legs were getting to me. The anticipation of doing the school drop-off and pick-up was causing me serious anxiety. Last Wednesday, I had had enough! I took matters into my own hands and tried to find a rental car in the phonebook. Before long, Kris was involved. And he wasn't very happy about it! But a coworker took pity on him and made a few calls and located an automatic car we could borrow and arranged for a new lease that would take only 2 weeks! Bliss!
Unfortunately, this new car was up in Avesta, a two hour drive north of us. But I wasn't complaining! So early Saturday morning we piled into the hated car and set off on our way. We were about one hour into the drive when Renee was car-sick. The drive was really lovely, but the smell of sick mingled with Kris' own digestive complaints took some of the enjoyment out of it. We made it to Avesta by lunch time and I had the keys to my new car in hand just like that! We stopped to get a couple pictures of the kids under the giant wooden horse and one of me with my new car, and then headed home.
I'm not saying that I will never try to learn how to drive with a stick again, but I can tell you this, it won't happen if the pressure's on!
