Hammer Time: Growing Up, Growing Fast

Our oldest daughter is in fifth grade. It scares me that in only four short years she will be able to drive one of our cars. Ten years from now she will be as old as I was when I met my wife for the first time. Is she finally growing up? Am I beginning to grow old? Who thought middle aged life would be so damn intense?

Like any Dad, I want to plan a few things for her. On one side I don’t want her to become in terminal need of ‘Economic Outpatient Care’. She has to establish her own merits and foundations.

But I also want her to have the freedom to focus on what’s important. School, learning about life far beyond the classroom, and the ultimate freedom to pursue what interests her without having to deal with the modern day debt trap.As much as I love cars, I realize that interests rarely pass down through the generations. Cars are nothing more than debtful transportation appliances for most folks. So here’s what my wife and I plan on doing for our daughter … car wise.

The first year of driving is usually the hardest time for teenagers. I remember my Mom barking out her ‘pearls of wisdom’ even before I turned the key. Drove me nuts. To help alleviate this ‘parent reflex’ I’ll probably have the two of us spend some time at a parking lot so that we both can get used to each other.

I’m not sure if I will teach other how to drive a stick off the bat. Some folks need confidence behind the wheel before they can begin mastering that art. I think two pedals and one steering wheel may be more than enough. If sticks are still widely available for cheap cars, I may teach her how to use one later on. But nothing’s guaranteed.

Then again, will she even get a license? The real crossroads will come when she graduates from high school. Will she then need a car for college? If she attends a ‘commuter school’ I may just give her something of her own at that point. I expect her to contribute some money to her car.

The balance is almost always the parents responsibility; especially since cheap cars aren’t common anymore. If she gives a little bit though, at least my daughter will have a sense of achievement and responsibility in owning the car. I would want her to enjoy the freedom to travel without feeling like the bank of M&D has been nothing more than a ‘parental credit card’ that gives her things.

By that time I will hopefully have taught her the basics of maintenance and car care. It won’t be rocket science. Just by teaching the basics, you can give a young person an amazing level of confidence and self-reliance. How to check and change oil. How to check and change coolant. Replacing air filters. Changing tires. Everything but the tires we can do at gas stations and parts stores.

Her automotive future may be nothing more than a non-event. Most colleges may ban student cars from campus altogether. Gas may go to $8 a gallon. Who knows? She may decide that a life without cars may be a better one. All this future prognosticating by a person with the best of intentions may simply go to waste.

But barring all those little chickens coming to roost, I will try to teach my kid how to make her car a long-term keeper. Either that or something else. Maybe a bike. Maybe investing. The high school class of 2019 is far into the future. Isn’t it?