I was teaching my youngest daughter Stephanie (please call me Steph - old habits die hard) how to drive stick-shift. She decided she wanted to learn and she went out, with my guidance, and bought a car with a manual transmission. Nice car, 2000 Hyundai Elantra with fairly low miles.

I am also teaching my 16 year old how to drive. So I guess I can put this on my resume, driving instructor. Patient driving instructor with nerves of steel. I’ve taught all four of my kids how to drive and two of them I also taught clutch usage. I must be a glutton for punishment.

But my youngest daughter is different. Her eyes start leaking at the slightest frustration or pressure. I say she’s frustrated, she prefers the term flustered. Either way, it is tough teaching her. Once the tears start rolling, the lesson is over. She can’t listen anymore and has blurry vision. Not a good combination when you are out in traffic.

She does well unless she starts to think about what she is doing. That’s when it all falls apart and it is like dominoes. Once the first tear forms, the foot/hand coordination flies out the window. (I should probably shut the window.)

So what lessons have I learned over the process?

Everyone learns differently. You have to feel your way when you are teaching anyone anything. It’s not one size fits all.

Gaining new skills works best when you are in a familiar environment. - Steph drives pretty well in parking lots at this point, but over the road just brings too much pressure.

Some people need a different teacher.

This last one is tough for me to take. I have lots of patience and am a good communicator (which mostly means being a good listener). I have lots of success in the past with teaching old dogs new tricks, so failure is not something I am familiar with - and it’s not something I want to get comfortable with. But I also can step back and say, you know, I’ve taught you the basics, maybe someone else can polish up the act.

If you ever learn karate or any of the martial arts, or ever watch classes, you see this principle in action. The green and brown belts usually teach the white belts and the black belts teach the more advanced classes. This structure could be useful in life. We all need different instructors, coaches and mentors as we progress or for different skills.

Teach what you know and be honest and admit when you need help or you need to pass on the student. My two cents for today.