I thought I was safe from the parental worries that come with your kids learning to drive! The legal age here in Dubai is 18 and that should afford us nearly two more years before the stomach acid starts to eat away over Aidan getting behind a steering wheel. Boy was I wrong!
It doesn't help when Aric encourages the testosterone to surge through both boys, while they are climbing 50 foot sand dunes and racing around the middle of nowhere in his FJ-Cruiser.
My first un-official lesson was at 14 years of age, in my mom's 1969 Opel, on a dirt country road in Denmark - and I still managed to drive head first into a hedge! Both kids have now been out dune-bashing with Aric twice and they think they are the Schumachers of the Dubai desert. Lacking road, speed and camel signs, there is an element of risk when the car goes up over the dune edge, only to soar down on the other side. You can potentially hit the roof of another car - especially if it's a crowded bashing day. But most sand enthusiasts are part of a larger, more organized group and they watch out for eachother and also drive in a convoy. You don't want to bash alone...it's a long walk out if you get stuck in the soft, slick sand. I'm sure nobody is surprised to hear that Aric is already member of the sand-dune-bashing-FJ cruiser club!! Fellow car nerds can check out the site:
This obviously does not help Aidan and Hunter in the least when they eventually make it to the US and attempt to perform "urban 4-wheeling" on the University campus! Aarrghh I already feel the anxiety attack coming on just thinking about this!
It makes it no more comforting to know that their driving lessons - when they start in 2-3 years - most likely will be tought by "Sanjay and Ramesh" who probably learned to drive in New Delhi!
What's a mother to do??
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