HOW MY CAR MADE ME A BETTER PARENT
I don’t speak car. I couldn’t tell you anything about engine power or suspension and I’m not impressed by flash models because
I fear I’d scratch them.
As the cliché goes, I see cars as a means of getting from A to B.
But as my years as a parent have clocked up as quickly as the kilometres on my odometer, I’ve realised my car has been a lifesaver.
Obviously, a car provides ease of transport with toddlers, but it also becomes the place you draw breath. When my kids were little and getting them and their belongings into the car felt like a gargantuan task, I learnt a special trick that saved my sanity. After clicking them into their car seats, I’d walk around the back of the car and lean against it to take a few deep breaths. Some days it felt like the only time I had to myself, and I used it to reset and simply be alone.
My car also allowed me to feel competent when so much else was going awry. I kept a bag in the boot with a clean towel (for impromptu swims), spare nappies and underpants, wipes, snacks, colouring pencils and a $20 note. So often I dug into that bag when I was held up or had forgotten my wallet or the kids were fractious.
Later, the car became the place where they talked about tricky issues. Eye contact often doesn’t work with tweens, yet looking out the window as we drove offered a safe environment for them to share their worries. I wonder if politicians might be better at solving the world’s problems if they took the occasional road trip!
Now I’m at the stage of teaching them to drive, the car has provided not just another bonding experience but a benchmark for how much they’ve grown. As I look across at my daughter in the driver’s seat, I feel a sense of pride in all I have done.