Miscommunication #2

My oldest child is a wonderful young woman.  She's talented. She's loyal. She's responsible.  She can work hard when she wants to. She is tough.
But her trait that has brought me here today is a biggie:  she is dramatic and when she has something to express, most often it is done very passionately.

What do you do when your mr. tells you that a certain child texted him and then called him, very freaked out about a light that came on on the dashboard of the car she is so priveledged to drive?

What do you do when your teen driver speaks to you and says, "The check engine light is on" in the car she is so priveledged to drive? (Imagine the passion.)

Well, my mr. told her to drive it home.
So she did.
And nothing happened.
And nobody did anything.

What do you do when the light is being ignored and it is the next day and said daughter is going to get in that car and drive away?
I checked her oil. Full.
Then I let her drive off.

OK, one big lesson that I have learned about motor vehicles is that when it's telling you something wrong, something usually is.

So, I called the mechanic & arranged to have the child take the car there & they would hook it up to the computer to see what was wrong.
"Is the car making any funny noises?" asked the mechanic.
"I don't know, I'm not the one who drives it- but I think she would have told me if it did." (See dramatic comment above.)
"It's probably nothing big." said he.

Flash forward to daughter coming home.
"It was nothing...the guy said it just needed an oil change. He said 'your mom made it sound like it was big problem-the check engine light on.'  You were wrong."

Me, "You told me (in your ever so dramatic way) the check engine light was on."
Her, "No I told you the needs maintenance light was on."
Me, "No, you didn't"

And once again, I look like a crazy woman and I am not happy about it.

We need some maintenance.
And somebody needs to go get their oil changed.


If you liked this little diddy, and you might like to read this miscommunication where I had a much better attitude about the day's happenings.
(FYI- In the girl's defense, the text she sent to her dad did have the words needs maintenance light-it was just not communicated to me.)