My 14 yr old son can drive a stick, how cool is that?  There is an old standard 1987 Jeep CJ7 at the farm and last spring I taught him how to drive it.  Now, before you have a cow, he has been driving 4-wheelers since he was 4 and cars since he was 3.  Yes, I said 3 yrs old.  When we would go down to the farm, I would let him sit on my lap and steer once we got on the dirt road.  There is about 6 miles of dirt roads from the highway to the house and anytime we were on the dirt road, he got to drive (or steer).  Once he got big enough to reach the pedals (about 9 or 10) I would get in the passenger’s seat and let him actually drive.  Mr. Hester also lets son drive his 4 door, 1 ton pickup (that we jokingly call “The Bus).  Of course he has been driving the farm vehicles since about the same time and his job usually is to drive the War Wagon with the trailer attached while we pick up wood.  He can back the War Wagon and trailer full of wood with the best of them.  He’s only allowed to drive on the property by himself (200 acres) and has to have an adult with him if he goes out on the dirt road.

I believe in bribing your children to get them to do what you want them to do and this is the best bribe in the world for a 14 yr old boy (with lots of testosterone).  You would not believe how much work we are able to extract from him, while down at the farm, in exchange for the ability of being able to drive.  Help work the cattle, no problem!  Help cut and load wood, no problem!  Help split and stack the wood, no problem!  Bring wood up from the woodpile to the house, no problem because this entails having to drive down to the woodpile to get the wood.  He also plays “Fetch Boy” while we are working on the property.  This means that while we are working we will say “Go up to the barn and fetch us some pliers”.  He gets to drive up to the barn and retrieve the pliers and drive them back down to us.  This makes everyone happy as we get the pliers we need without having to stop and he gets to drive so it’s a Win/Win situation.

My dad is old fashion and taught all of us to drive on an old 1950 GMC Pickup and yes, it was a standard - duh.  He also taught me how to drive a stick without using the clutch (yes, it can be done).  As a matter of fact, I drove a standard until I was about 26 yrs old and actually prefer a stick over an automatic.  In talking with my friends, I didn’t realize how many people don’t know how to drive a stick.  Not that it will every come in handy, in today’s world, but I’m glad my son knows how to drive a stick.