By Susan Borison
March 1, 2023
You’ve dreamt of this moment. Your oldest child getting their driver’s license. But who knew that you’d feel like you could die while you were teaching them to drive. Every acceleration feels like 0 to 60. Every brake feels like your body is going to fly out of the car. Hold on tight for this crazy dangerous ride.
We’ve sat in her seat. We’ve sat shotgun trying to teach a kid to drive. We’ve experienced the moment when we understand that mastery of driving is not the same as teaching the skills to someone else, especially your teenager. Thank you to @kenahllandreth for striking the perfect balance between exaggerated terror and hysterical humor. Kendahl Landreth nailed it and over 1.2 MM Tik Tok users related.
In under 2 minutes, Landreth’s performance leaves us with an important insight — not every mom should teach their teenager to drive. When mom starts with a stress level that would make anyone anxious, she is amplifying the anxiety; her new driver is never going to succeed. When mom holds onto the assist grip — also known as the grab bar, panic bar, or Jesus handle — for dear life, she makes her new driver feel more worried about their mom than the road. And then she does what no teacher should ever do; she starts screaming and barking orders. “Stop! Did you see that person walking!”
@kendahllandreth POV: your mom teaches you how to drive #comedy #mom #comedyvideo #pov #parenting #childhoodmemories
Landreth’s video so far has garnered 255.2K likes and 1200 comments from people who completely recognize the terrified mom she portrays.
One commenter wrote, “Literally my mom,” which resonated with so many other teenagers and new drivers.
“My daughter sent me this. I feel attacked,” said mom Cindy Jensen.
My favorite comment comes from Landreth’s real mom, Darla Frye Landreth (user @darla1.0), “I remember that death grip on the handle! ???? Teaching you and your sister to drive is one of the more terrifying moments in my life. ????”
Her mom, Darla 1.0 is Kendahl’s inspiration for Darla 2.0. Kendahl has spent many hours paying close attention to her mom, dissecting every quirk and every charm. She turns her mom’s idiosyncrasies into an exaggerated yet hilarious moment.
In a YouTube interview, Kendahl asks Darla 1.0, whether she has a favorite video. Darla 1.0 says she loves all of them but if she had to pick one, she’d choose the hotel swimming pool bit. In this video, Kendahl repeats the warnings and encouragement that her mom would dole out to her and her sister, but with a Kendahl twist. So check out this hotel swimming pool TikTik video too.
@kendahllandreth
Kendahl is outgrageous when she’s making fun of her mom. And despite seeing myself in most of her mocking videos, I still fell in love with her because the videos are oozing with love for her mom.
The funniest part is that Landreth is not a mom. She’s an adult making fun of her own mom. I have several of my own comedians who could compete with Landreth in the making fun of mom department.
