It’s 34 degrees, you’re either hiding out of the heat, lying on a beach somewhere or sitting by the pool with family and friends, or the most reliable scenario is, Mum and Dad are at work and too tired to take you out for a drive when they get home.  ‘I’m tired after a long day or, I promise tomorrow.’  All answers I’ve heard before, and in reality, I’ve used this excuse a few times with both my girls when they were learning.  But they would say, ‘ugh…I need to get my hours up!  Yes, we know!

Feeling like you’re back to square one?

And with the year that has been (they who shall not be named) has left many of you struggling to get your hours up, and in some cases feeling like you’ve gone back to square one.  You’re not alone and, I hear you say how can I get my hours up quickly?

Start with day one.

All too often we let the parents drive to the shops, or the parents say, let me drive, it’ll be quicker.  When in reality it won’t.  It takes a few seconds extra to turn the app on, or write in the log book, reverse out of the driveway and a couple of extra seconds navigating that pesky carpark at Coles.  But just do it, start with day one…tomorrow.

Planning is a great start.

With so many now on holidays, and possibly with part time jobs where you will be juggling those shifts that pop up out of the blue, or shifts that are locked in, plan out your day if you can.  Check your diaries and collaborate your time with family members.  Planning is a great start for getting your hours up.  It may be 8pm and you’re sitting there quite exhausted from a big day, but in reality, is sitting in a car for 30 minutes to drive around your local area going to really be so bad?

Ideas for your local area include:

• Taking the dog to the beach for a walk. Perfect time is just before sunset and less cars on the road.  Great for getting used to driving with the sun in your eyes. (Also, worth investing in a decent pair of sunglasses.  Mine were $8 from Kmart and have minimal vision obstruction).
• Need to do some grocery shopping? Get your learner to help, they can drive and push the trolley for you.  If they’re good, give them a freddo frog afterwards hehe.
• Feel like an ice-cream? Hop in the car and drive down to Rosebud McDonalds and go through the drive-thru for a quick ice cream cone.
• Feel like fish n chips? Drive to pick up the phone order and drive down to the beach with a picnic rug (don’t forget the tomato sauce) and Aerogard (don’t want those mozzies to get us).
• Want to visit a farmer’s market for fresh produce? Let your learner drive to the South Melbourne market and park on the rooftop.  Parking practice in tight situations is a great way to practice.  Not sure how to negotiate that?  Reach out.
• Feel like lunch at a country pub? Pick a town on the map. How we do it in this family, is grab a map with a 100 kilometre radius near our home and blindly put a pin in it, that’s where we go.  It’s lots of fun to discover our great State and, a great way for your learner to discover all the different roads to drive on.
• Struggling with parking in shopping centres? Pick an empty area and start practicing. No risk of hitting others and it’s great to practice when parking spaces are tight.
• Next time you know you’re due to fill up, let your learner do it. They have to learn sometime. Whilst you’re there, show them how to pump up the tyres and check the wiper washer bottle and the other basics under the bonnet.

How do we build the momentum?

I’m sure the above is just a few of the things you can do, I’m even more certain you’ve got your own ideas.  But I know, you keep thinking, how do we build the momentum going forward?  Just be consistent.

If you need to book me in to support your family, please bear in mind the wait time is out to about eight weeks, so patience is asked for.

Have a wonderful festive season and I’ll see you out on the road.

Until next time,

Sarah xo