In all my blogging and writing, I totally forgot to share the lovely story about Titus’ first moments behind the wheel in my Denali!!
You guys… forgive me!
This is an epic moment that must be shared with the world!!
Also, there are no pictures to emphasize the moment… just some fun dialogue.
So, last week, after a long day, I took the whole family with me into town to the grocery store.
We hadn’t been out of the house at all for a while, and we needed to at least get out for a drive.
Now, the kids stayed in the car while I ran into the store really quick, and when I got back to the car I decided to give Titus his chance he had been begging for to practice driving.
I drove to the High School and parked in the parking lot.
Titus was sitting in the passenger seat, all excited to the point he wasn’t sitting still anymore.
Levi (the self-proclaimed “back seat driver”) was in the back, pumping us all up for the event that was to follow moments later.
“Ok Titus… this is it! The moment you have been waiting for! Just don’t kill us all!”
I got out of the driver’s seat, Titus got out of the passenger seat, and we traded places.
Titus settled in the driver’s seat and I told him to adjust everything so he felt comfortable in his “driving position.”
Now, he’s 6ft 3in without his shoes on, so this took a little adjustment… not much, but enough to take him off balance for a second.
He looked at all the “controls” in front of him and I began to tell him what was most important for this first lesson…
Me: “Bruh… seatbelt first my dear.”
Titus: “Uh… oh yeah. I need to do that.”
Levi in the back: “Yep…we’re all gonna die.”
Me: “Shush you! Peanut gallery is now silent. Thank you!”
Titus: “What do I do to put it in gear?”
Me: “Okay, so you have to press the brake first, before you try to move the gear shift…”
Titus: “This thing?” Grabs gear shift and almost moves it without foot on the brake.
Me: “BRAKE!! Yes… that thing. Brake first…”
Titus puts foot on brake.
Me: “There ya go…”
Titus slowly moved the gear shift handle and eased his foot off the brake pedal.
And we slowly eased forward.
Titus: “Whoa! So you don’t even have to press on the gas to make it move forward?!”
Me: “Yep. That’s how it works, my dear.”
Titus: “Oh, this is so cool!”
So, we continued down the length of the parking lot a ways, and I encouraged him to use the gas pedal, “Just put your foot on the gas and press lightly…”
And we LURCHED forward as the engine revved up in beast-mode.
Levi: “Floor it, Titus! Go like 30MPH!”
The car immediately slows down again.
Micah: “Uhm, are we sure this is a good idea?”
Me: “Titus will not be flooring it to any speed, right Titus?”
Titus: “Nah… I’m good with this right here.”
The car continues to creep down the parking lot length, at a leisurely pace…
Me: “Okay, Titus. Now you EASE onto the brake and get ready to turn and go back up the other side. Got it?”
The end of the parking lot gets closer, and closer…
Me: “Titus? Brake dear.”
Titus smashes the brake with his giant foot.
The car comes to a harsh stop.
Titus: “I think I need a little practice with this. And you were right, Mom. Your pedals ARE sensitive!”
Me: “Okay, now turn. And they aren’t that sensitive… boy you got big feet! Haha!”
We go up and down the parking lot a couple of times, until we get to the back end where there are ZERO cars parked.
Me: “Wanna try to park it?”
Titus: “Uh… okaaaay.”
Me: “Alright. So, you are going to turn into one of these empty spaces. Try to get the Denali between the white lines. It’s okay if you don’t get it the first time. It’s a big car.”
Titus picks a spot and starts to turn in.
Me: “Remember, you have to stop before you hit the cement bar there.”
The car is still moving at the same speed.
Levi: “Ohhh… we’re gonna crash!”
Me: “Titus… Titus!”
Brakes applied… no, slammed.
The car stops as if it actually DID hit the cement.
Levi: “Oh Whew! That was close! Is everyone okay?”
Micah: “No. I’m gonna need therapy now.”
Titus: “Oh come on! It wasn’t that bad!”
Me: “Well… it was a good first try. Open the door and see if you are on the white line or not.”
Titus opens his door. “Oh! Mom! It’s perfect!”
I opened my door to see. Yep! It was a good parking job! Well… Minus the lurching.
He wanted to go around again, and try parking again a second time, too.
So, around we went.
Amid the shouts of “Go faster!” and “We’re all gonna die!” “Don’t kill us Titus!” and “I can’t wait till I’m driving, too!” “Speed up!” “Slow down!” and much more from the peanut gallery in the backseat.
A few more loops around the parking lot, and he gradually turned into another empty parking space.
The brakes weren’t hit so hard this time, and the parking between the lines was even better!
This time, I got out and told him to get out and take a picture of his parking job.
Titus was so excited!
He got out, took the picture, and then we traded places so I could drive us home.
We got in the car and buckled our seatbelts.
Titus: “I did pretty good, didn’t I?”
Me: “Yes! You did! Was it exciting?”
Levi: “Next time you need to just go really fast, Titus!”
Titus: “Nah. I’m working my way up to it. I’m pretty proud of what I did today, though.”
Me: “Yeah. You did good!”
Titus turned to me, smiled really big and said, “I mastered 10 M P H.”
