First drove a car at three years old

My son Nicholas is a car nut. He was born with a monkey wrench in his hands which may explain my long hard labor.

We lived on an acre with a long drive way when he was three years old. Nicholas was always my husband's shadow especially when tools were involved.

Mr. Red usually does most of our car maintenance himself and was changing the oil in one of our vehicles. He had one parked sideways behind the other.

My memory of cars isn't too great but I think at the time we had a Volvo and a Monte Carlo. The Volvo was parked sideways behind the Monte Carlo.

Dad came inside to use the bathroom. I was busy in the kitchen as usual when Nicholas comes running in the house very excited.

Mom I drove the car.

That's great hon.

Really, I drove the car.

Husband comes out of the bathroom and goes back outside.

All of a sudden I hear a loud string of ugly words coming from the front yard and I look at Nicholas, who suddenly doesn't look as happy as he did earlier, in fact he starts to look very worried.

Mr. Red bursts into the house still using words my small son shouldn't be hearing.

My son hides behind me knowing he needs protection from the large person wielding a tool and yelling.

What happened? I ask.

He looks at Nicholas and I swear sparks were flying from his hair.

Apparently, my son got into the first car, put it in reverse and backed it into the second car.

And that, my friends, is the first of several car accidents my first born has had.

He rolled his first two cars.

The first one was a Honda Accord. He wasn't wearing a seat belt and had the window down on the driver's side. He was driving fast and the roads were wet.

He was sixteen or seventeen at the time.

His car ended upside down between two trees.

Nicholas crawled out of the window and ran to a friend's house a few blocks away.

Colin gave him a ride home. They drove by the accident so he could show his friend, because when you're a teenager these things are cool.

The police were there and looking around in the woods with flashlights trying to find his dead body because, as the officer later told my husband, he didn't see how anyone could have lived through that.

His second roll over was in a Miata with his hard top on, thank God and another police officer was amazed that Nicholas walked away from that accident.

The boy has extra guarding angels watching over him. That's all I can say.

He's now 25 but unfortunately he hasn't outgrown the speed addiction.