Thursday 13th June

The day of the driving test dawns, and initially this means the eldest gets a lie-in and the morning off school. Having breakfasted with Mrs P and the youngest I wash up and wave them off, before getting the eldest up for a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich. I’m off to the library this morning and so I wish her good luck, tell her just to do her best and that she’ll be ok.

At the library I end up helping a lady who is trying to document a family tree to aid a legal matter. Unfortunately she is not entirely clear on what she wants and how it should look, and none of the online templates appears to fit her needs. As a result I end up creating a template from scratch and populating it for her so she can get a single look at what she is dealing with. Two hours later I leave her in a better position than we started and hopefully nearer to her goal.

The upshot of my time in the library is I haven’t had time to think about the eldest doing her driving test. But as I head home to meet her I think of little else. I’m expecting a text to let me know how she got on and like an expectant father keep staring at my phone. No text in my mind means it’s bad news, and when the doorbell rings I’m braced for the worst. I reach the door to be greeted by an enormous grin from the other side and an exultant teenager leaping at me holding a driving test Pass Certificate. I was so pleased she passed, she deserved it, and of course it means I no longer have to be frightened by sitting next to a learner driver. The next scary thing will be the price of car insurance for her, but we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it. My afternoon passed in a cheerful haze as a proud father.

I did get around to some ironing and greeted the youngest who’d been the first to receive the good news via text. He was very happy for his sister, though hasn’t suggested she drive him anywhere yet. I also fill up the car with petrol, something I have not done for a long time, and close my eyes when I have to pay. The eldest and I are off on a road trip tomorrow and I’ll need a full tank, otherwise I would normally run nearer empty than full.

The youngest has his final exam tomorrow morning and so diligently applies himself to his last revision session, while I cook up bacon sandwiches for the trip and put them in the fridge (we do eat other things in case you were wondering). I hope we don’t forget them in the morning. Then it’s an early night as we’ve a dawn start, but more of that in tomorrow’s blog. I go to sleep dreaming of the eldest ferrying me to the pub and back; could this mean the end of jay-le-taxi? Or will the high cost of car insurance win the day?

Yours always a proud father.

Jay