Do Kids Think Their Parents Were Never Teenagers?

[gm]

The old grandmother's curse of may "your children do to you (what you have done to me)" holds true. I was a pistol. My kids are pistols.

My mother-in-law's comeback line to my wife was "I hope you have a child just like you...and I hope you have twins!"

We've been pretty lucky with the boys, so far (more laid-back like their dad, I guess...) Student driving starts in a couple of months...providing my son can pass the DMV permit test...

[GAC]

The old grandmother's curse of may "your children do to you (what you have done to me)" holds true. I was a pistol. My kids are pistols.

How true, how true. There was four in our family. The oldest was a girl, and then there was us three very honery boys.

My mother use to say repeatedly to me.... "I hope when you grow up you have three kids and they are just as honery as you."

I have three kids.

A Mother's curse is nothing to laugh at.

[M2]

Driving regulations these days are insane. In some places they're not allowed to have any other under-18 passengers in the car. How are you supposed to go on a date? Actually, I suspect that's what's behind these rules more than anything: cars=freedom and freedom=sex.

Beyond that, if you live in a place where you have to drive to get anywhere (and that's most of the country) then it's simply impractical to expect that kids aren't going to pile into a car for social events like games, movies, dances and parties. I'm not a fan of Big Mother government.

[Johnny Footstool]

Driving regulations these days are insane. In some places they're not allowed to have any other under-18 passengers in the car. How are you supposed to go on a date? Actually, I suspect that's what's behind these rules more than anything: cars=freedom and freedom=sex.

Beyond that, if you live in a place where you have to drive to get anywhere (and that's most of the country) then it's simply impractical to expect that kids aren't going to pile into a car for social events like games, movies, dances and parties. I'm not a fan of Big Mother government.

Big oil hates carpooling.

[Roy Tucker]

Driving regulations these days are insane. In some places they're not allowed to have any other under-18 passengers in the car. How are you supposed to go on a date? Actually, I suspect that's what's behind these rules more than anything: cars=freedom and freedom=sex.

Beyond that, if you live in a place where you have to drive to get anywhere (and that's most of the country) then it's simply impractical to expect that kids aren't going to pile into a car for social events like games, movies, dances and parties. I'm not a fan of Big Mother government.

Research has shown that teen drivers carrying one teenage passenger have twice the risk of a fatal crash as teens driving alone.

The risk of a fatal crash is five times as high for teens carrying two or more teenage passengers.

http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/inju...s/1289teen.pdf

Whether or not this is the governments business to legislate is a fair argument. But I know, law or no law, we don't let our kids drive friends till they've been driving for 6 months and don't let them ride with teen drivers for the same 6 month period. And even then, we don't let them take more than one other kid for a year.

If they want to chance breaking the rules, I tell them "I have spies everywhere". And if they do and I catch them, they don't get to drive any of my cars till they're 18. Period.

[WMR]

Research has shown that teen drivers carrying one teenage passenger have twice the risk of a fatal crash as teens driving alone.

The risk of a fatal crash is five times as high for teens carrying two or more teenage passengers.

http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/inju...s/1289teen.pdf

Whether or not this is the governments business to legislate is a fair argument. But I know, law or no law, we don't let our kids drive friends till they've been driving for 6 months and don't let them ride with teen drivers for the same 6 month period. And even then, we don't let them take more than one other kid for a year.

If they want to chance breaking the rules, I tell them "I have spies everywhere". And if they do and I catch them, they don't get to drive any of my cars till they're 18. Period.

Now that's a potential punishment with some teeth!!

[redsmetz]

How true, how true. There was four in our family. The oldest was a girl, and then there was us three very honery boys.

My mother use to say repeatedly to me.... "I hope when you grow up you have three kids and they are just as honery as you."

I have three kids.

A Mother's curse is nothing to laugh at.

I always told my younger daughter, "You're the answer to Grandma's prayers - I hope you have one just like you!" But she was a much better kid than I was.

[TeamBoone]

Simple answer, yes, they do think that... unfortunately, it's normal for kids to never relate to the fact that their parents were ever young.

[Falls City Beer]

I was never a teenager. I've been 40 since birth.

[redsmetz]

I was never a teenager. I've been 40 since birth.

So is this your picture?

[Strikes Out Looking]

My mother-in-law's comeback line to my wife was "I hope you have a child just like you...and I hope you have twins!"

We've been pretty lucky with the boys, so far (more laid-back like their dad, I guess...) Student driving starts in a couple of months...providing my son can pass the DMV permit test...

I have twins, and one is just like me. And I can actually understand him better than my other kids, so I think your mother in law was off. Now my oldest son is just like my father in law and he is giving me lots of gray hairs...

[M2]

The risk of a fatal crash is five times as high for teens carrying two or more teenage passengers.

I suspect that has something to do with drinking.

My parents' attitude back in the day was better to have me behind the wheel of the car than one of my knucklehead friends and probably in six years that will be my attitude too. Mind you, given where we live there's really no need for the kids to drive much of anywhere.

Though I do like the idea of letting them get some experience behind the wheel before they start performing taxi duties for their friends.

[Chip R]

I suspect that has something to do with drinking.

In some cases, sure. But you get kids in a car and they are talking and texting and phoning and listening to music and trying to impress each other and that's a lot of distractions. Especially if it's the driver of the car doing some, if not all, of those things. The more inexperienced the driver, the more likely doing some or all of those things is going to distract them and then increase the liklihood of an accident.

[GAC]

In some cases, sure. But you get kids in a car and they are talking and texting and phoning and listening to music and trying to impress each other and that's a lot of distractions. Especially if it's the driver of the car doing some, if not all, of those things. The more inexperienced the driver, the more likely doing some or all of those things is going to distract them and then increase the liklihood of an accident.

Exactly. They are inexperienced. A bunch of kids in the care is not only a distraction but one huge liability case. So the last thing I want my kids doing is allowing other distractions going on in the car. I want them to get to that level of "comfortability".

I let Rachel drive alot. It's the only way she is going to gain that experience. But you put slack in the line gradually IMO. But it's under Mom and Dad's guidelines. If we find out she has been using her cellphone while driving, she loses driving privileges for a month. That's a BIG no-no with us. If she needs to call someone, then pull over in a parking lot or whatever and call. But not while driving.

Tommorrow I'm allowing her to drive down to Urbana (about 20 miles one way) to visit Grandma.