In which I learn how to start a car

Last month, something extraordinary happened. We became a two-car family.

Now, I know many of you probably have multiple cars. But not us. You see, my husband telecommutes from home and that means his commute is, well, super short. And since I'm a stay at home mom, my commute is short as well.

Two short commutes means the need for multiple cars is small.

But then kids grow, the husband needs to go on more business trips, the wife turns into a taxi, and people have to go places. Sports, lessons, events, school, errands. Yeah, life gets kind of crazy.

And one car doesn't cut it.

Okay, now I know there are several of you out there shaking your heads and thinking how easy my life is. I get it. I know many people are single parents or have spouses who are gone for days and days at a time. My insignificant problem of one car just isn't the tear-jerker it could be.

But still, things were getting kinda tense transportation-wise.

So we made the plunge and bought a second car. That's right, our two-car garage now holds two cars.

But my first, second, and maybe even third times driving the car were rather, um, difficult.

You know those handy little "start" buttons they put in newer cars now? Yeah, I've never owned a car with one of those until a few weeks ago. And it was dang tricky to figure out!

Okay, see that button? Now, it looks easy to use. Right?

Well it's totally not. Not at all.

After we brought the car home, the husband kindly explained how to use it.

Hint: you have to hold the brake pedal down while pressing that handy button.

Then a few days went by and I forgot. I went out to leave and saw the husband standing at the door, just watching. Psh. I knew what he was doing. He thought I was going to dent the car/forget how to drive/do something dumb in our new car. Not me though, I had things under control. I just smiled at him and pressed the button.

Only the car lights went on.

So I double clicked the button.

The car lights turned off.

I looked up at the husband who was still sanding there, just watching and ready to help. I glared at him. He knew what that meant: I didn't need help.

So I held the button down. Dang car still didn't start. But the lights went on again. And off.

I fumed and the husband came over to the car. He reminded me to press the brake pedal in.

Oh yeah! I remembered. Oops. That was kind of embarrassing.

Then that same incident occurred two other times. Yeah, there were three times in a two week period where I was unable to start our car. Dang technology!

Finally though, I remembered.

But I hadn't realized how much my kids were observing my learning curve until one day, when I started the car (on my first try!) and my four-year-old excitedly exclaimed, "Good job starting the car, Mom!" She told several people about that highlight of her day.

You can now go about your day feeling better about yourself. Because I bet you know how to start your car.