Wheels in Hello.

Rob started his driving lessons yesterday. He’s so excited! He’s a bit like me, he’ll get fixated on a new thing, do loads and loads of research into it and not be able to think about anything else. He’s been doing his hazard perception, his theory practice, watching videos of other people learning how to drive, all things I did when I started learning over 9 years ago. I’ve told him to sit at the front of the bus and pretend he’s driving it as well, which is funny because that’s what he used to do when he was a kid! He’s already making plans on meeting me when he passes his test and me taking him on the motorway. He’s about 40 miles from the motorway, so I don’t think his instructor will take him on lessons, unless Rob decides to do a pass plus.
I know he had been nervous about it, but as he was going to catch his bus to Skipton for his first lesson (Skipton isn’t easy to drive around, so great place to practice!) he saw a robin. Before my granda died, one of the last things he said to Rob was to get driving lessons. Granda’s favourite bird was the robin and when my nana sees one in the garden, she sees it as a sign from granda. So it was sweet that Rob said the robin was granda giving him reassurance.
Rob video called us last night, which was nice. I noticed he’s picking up a bit of a Yorkshire twang as well. I love the Yorkshire accent! Half the phonecall was just talking rubbish, the other half was playing with filters! Very funny.
Eleanor has been stressed by college lately. They put so much pressure on them to apply for uni. She told me she was having a meeting with the advisor about it and she was worried about what to say. I told her we didn’t expect her to go to uni, and if she wanted to just take a year out after college, we’d support her. I said she’s had so much pressure since year 9, with the GCSE expectations, then college, it’s no wonder her head is reeling! I could tell a weight had been lifted. I was talking to John about it, and he was saying that when we were at school, the teachers and career advisors spent all of their energy focusing on the really bright kids and the kids who didn’t want to go to school, that those of us pootling along in the middle basically got ignored and expected to know what we were going to do with the rest of our lives. Eleanor is very much like I was, a bit immature emotionally, and needs someone to explain everything slowly and carefully so it goes in and she can think about it. I know she’s been at college over a year, but she’s been focusing on her work and the whole uni thing feels like a bit of a whirlwind going on around her.
She may decide not to go to uni at all, and find a job she loves. Or she may wait until she’s 30 like I did. Either way, we don’t mind.
Right, it’s 10.30am and I’m still in bed. John told me Oxfam has a load of hippy clothes in that he knows I’ll love, so I’m going to go there and have a look.