Flat Tire

Riley has reached the point in his 10 hours of driving experience, including the class, of being able to point out every time a driver does something incorrect, including me. I take the calm quiet approach as he criticizes my forgetting to signal for a turn when there is no traffic around; or not stopping at exactly the right point for the stop sign. He points out the other drivers on the road making mistakes also. He tells me he is probably the best driver on the road as he follows all the rules. I grin and bear it. I am glad he is vigilant.

Trevor calls for his pick up from after school track, on this cold and rainy day. I tell Riley to get his wallet and keys so we can go pick him up. I want Riley to drive. Every moment behind the wheel is good experience. Afternoon has traffic, Riley needs practice changing lanes and driving in traffic. We arrive at the school. Riley sees his brother and keeps driving until I tell him to stop, making Trevor walk further to reach the car.

The driveway into and out of the school gets a lot of traffic as you can imagine. The road is pretty beat up. Pot holes are full of water with the rain coming down. Riley plows into one and then another. I tell him he needs to miss the pot holes, they can cause a flat tire with the sharp hard edges of asphalt or concrete. We arrive at our driveway shortly. Riley proceeds to turn down the drive. He miss measures the turn and plows into the concrete retaining wall that curves down the left side of the drive. I tell him if he hit any harder he could have set off the air bags. I said I would have really gotten mad if he set off the air bags.

We drive into the garage. As Riley turns off the engine looking very sheepish, I tell him to walk round the car to look for damage. That is when we discover the fully flat tire on the front passenger side. I tell him to back the car out so we can change the tire, then call a halt. There is plenty of room to do the change right here in the spacious garage. He has left enough room to comfortably work on the car out of the wet and rain.

As punishment for the pot hole and the concrete wall, I tell Riley he will have to empty the trunk of everything as the spare is underneath all the junk and garbage. I drag over the big garbage can. Being Riley, he goes and gets a pair of rubber gloves to wear so he doesn't have to touch anything with his bare hands. You never know what gooey mess might be under the next layer. He dumps everything on the floor of the garage where I help in sort and toss garbage from keep. Most of it is garbage with the exception of three umbrellas. I had been wondering where my umbrellas were, left in the trunk from football season.

The carpet comes up to expose the spare. It is a mini spare tire. We get out the jack and feel for a metal plate under the car, as I explain that the plastic might crush and not hold, so you want to find the right spot for the jack to hold properly. The jack has a top seam that keeps the metal from slipping out when you put it in the right place. I have Riley pump up the jack turning the funky crank until the tire is off the ground fully. I tell Riley he doesn't have to get it up really high as the higher it goes the harder it falls. Best to get the car jacked up just enough. I dump some of the items we are keeping on the trunk and hood and park the garbage can behind the car, to remind us all not to drive it without a tire. I explain to Riley, someone could easily get in the car on the driver's side not realizing that the passenger tire is missing. I want to make it obvious "Don't Drive".

I decide that we can just throw the bad tire into the other car and take it down to Les Schwab. No point in putting on the mini spare only to have to remove it again. Riley finds the special tire iron and asks which way to undo the bolts. "Lefty loosy, righty tighty", I say. I tell him sometimes the bolts are on so tight you have to jump on the tire iron to get them started. The first one does take some muscle. Once loose though, Riley uses his fingers to unscrew it. He gets the others off and puts them into a bowl I hand him to make sure they don't get lost. We both laugh at the same time and comment about the scene in a "Christmas Story" where the boy tries to help his father and loses all the nuts in the snow. I tell Riley that is why I am having him do the whole thing.

Riley asks when the last time I had to change a tire was. I can barely remember. I tell him I have called AAA or a tow truck, but they cost $90. This is a good experience for both of us. Since we are in a dry garage, it is not even a cold wet job. Riley is enjoying himself, something to tell his teacher at his next driving class. I don't think he will be driving through pot hole puddles as often either.

We load the tire into the other car but by the time we get to the tire store, the store is closed. I will be dropping off the tire later. Tom calls, he has arrived home before we get back from our unsuccessful errand. Trevor has informed his father that Riley crashed the car. I tell Tom it is just a flat tire. The car will survive to drive another day. Riley is not happy Trevor said anything, but I tell Riley not to worry, the hard part is over. The car will be in one piece again, once we get the tire fixed or replaced. His father will not be mad.

This is the reason we are driving around in old beat up cars, so if and when my children hit concrete walls trying to park or get flat tires, it is not a big deal, just an experience to have so he knows what to do if his parents aren't around to make suggestion or help. Hopefully, Riley wont be correcting my driving as often since he seems to be really good at having his own little oops now. I sit serenely in the passenger seat clutching my hands together white knuckled, awaiting our next driving adventure.