Driving Miss Daisy

I do not drive. Never have, unless you count the 5 months of driving lessons in London many years ago which resulted in the near death of my instructor twice a week, and probably never will. There are some things in life people just get. It could be running, football, Desperate Housewives, stamp collecting, fishing, Harry Potter books, sleeping all day, hey the list is endless, live and let live, different strokes for different folks ya-da-ya-da-ya......

But I could never click with being behind the wheel of a car, I either over thought the process and became a rigid lump gripping the steering wheel as if it were a life buoy in choppy seas, or I didn't think at all, preferring the day dreaming approach (see above for near death of instructor). Yes I know it is about relaxation and co-ordination and I have a problem with neither, I am pretty laid back (relaxation part sorted) and being a drummer back in the day means that I can use my hands and feet independently of each other. I just did not have the interest and boy do I regret it now.

Take my current situation for example. As the person who takes Pearl to all her appointments a good system is required to keep the show on the road. On Monday I take her to the creche in the morning and her Psychomotricien in the afternoon. Tues, Weds and Thursday are Speech Therapy days plus one morning at the creche. Friday is Child Psychologist and creche. That is a typical week and means about 40km's plus on the bicycle with my little co-pilot Pearl sitting at my derriere. Multiply those weeks by the best part of year and throw in all the other random meetings that crop up and you see just how many therapy sessions there have been and how many kilometres have been covered. This is good for me because its healthy, its great for Pearl to be outdoors and free (she hates the bus and trains) and it saves some money and the planet a little bit too. Its not very nice during the winter or when a monsoon rain appears from nowhere, but we always get there in the end. Yesterday we had a consultation with a surgeon to check out Pearl's belly button, long story short she has had a hernia since birth and its just a cosmetic procedure to fold it back in. A little nip and tuck type scenario. So the appointment was 8 km's away and the route led through these incredibly steep hills and through the forest trail. It was a tough ride with 15 extra kilo's on the back but it was good for the legs and it's a blessing to be able to do it. The wind was fierce at the top of the climb and eventually we found our clinic and our lovely doctor. He declared himself to not be enough of a specialist to deal with it and sent us to his secretary for a referral. She gave us all the details we needed and never charged us either. Job done, we were on our way down the hills toward home. Today is the second appointment and its down in Boulogne, which is further away and means even more hills. Hey, its gotta be done.

Now my issue, getting back on track here, is this, what the hell do I do when she is too big for the bike? Add on another 5kg to that child and her days as my passenger are truly numbered. And it's not like I can suddenly (re)learn to drive now considering the lunatics over here drive on the right, don't give a sh*t who else is on the road and probably get their licences with eight tokens from a the back of a Kellogg's cereal box. I mean seriously, if you want a display in road ignorance then look no further than here. (luckily they make good cheese)

So you can see my predicament folks. Something will present itself I am sure, maybe running everywhere with her in a shopping trolley is the way forward!!!! All suggestions welcome.

See you round the bend.

Mally.