Considerations about cultural bias and peer pressure aside (hereabout, even today, the drivers of a car with automatic gearbox are those who miss or can't use their right arm or left leg), or dearth of choice (some cars pretty much only have one kind of gear, so it's that... or another kind of car), I personally only once drove an automatic and the experience baffled me beyond description... I just, more than once, had the urge to shift, but couldn't, and had to rely on hoping the thing would do it sooner than my patience ran out... and it didn't happen. The admittedly (and fortunately) short experience only reinforced my conviction that is something not for me (beside that it just costs too much, even if compared to an optional six gears sports box). The only person in my family who owned an automatic car was my late uncle that in the 80ies bought a Jaguar XJS in England, where he had an import-export of peeled tomatoes, but we ALL know Englishmen are odd people so nothing new under the sun.

Your mother tried unsuccessfully to use a manual shift car most likely because no one bothered to teach her HOW to use it, and she herself never thought to learn either. I remember the first time I used my father's old FIAT 127, and even with all the cultural background I had, the very first time I tried, I did a poor job of it. In the end it's a matter of learning how to use CORRECTLY the clutch (and the handbrake in hill starting) and to choose when to shift and in which direction, listening to the engine's revs (someone looks to the revs counter... IF a revs counter is contemplated in the dashboard... but I strongly advise against this practice, as it distract from the MORE IMPORTANT duty... which is looking at where you're going)... and I can say that if I, of all people, learned it in a half a hour, everyone can in even less, if he or she wants. With time it becomes a second nature and you must not even think about it anymore, you just do it.

This said, I can see and even considered often, in the years, the merits of an automatic in traffic jams... the problem though remains that outside very congested city streets, automatic is... pretty much unnecessary. Letting a mechanical gizmo (or computerized one, in modern cars) decide for you if and when to shift is not always a good idea, and most of the time a waste of petrol too, and using the stick manually to select gears in the automatic cars because the mechanical or computerized servo makes a mess of it pretty much defies the having to pay more to have the automatic gearbox in the first place.

That is not to say that if you really want an automatic you shouldn't get one. Tastes are a personal matter that should never be discussed... it's just that... well, unless you cannot do otherwise for reasons explained above, as someone else has already said, it pretty much takes away the fun of driving.

Talk with your mom, tell her you'll get the instructions in properly using a manual gearbox she never did and ask her to give you the benefit of the doubt. If your mom is a reasonable person, she'll see reasons.

You know Craig, reading your message I had the most peculiar mirage of Jeremy Clarkson reading your words and then commenting about your driving habits (and if you know him and his point of view... ouch... just ouch).

No offense intended at any level. It is I that should get off the excessive use of Top Gear.

As about your habit to brake with the left foot... just be careful around corners, especially WET corners, and absolutely BE CAREFUL, even in straight as an arrow roadways, with a rear wheel drive car (had I had such an habit on my old BMW... I would be one of those sleeping the eternal rest right now, instead of being here annoying you ). Know that your habit would be ground for immediate driving license annulment here in Italy (they would just make confetti of your license in your face on the spot, should they discover it), so take care and remember it if you ever come hereabout and want to drive EVEN an automatic...

It's the law. I did not make it. I only acknowledge it.

Try to accelerate and brake at the same time, even in a front wheel drive, while on a wet corner, and you'll see why I'm worried... actually DON'T DO IT! Especially don't do it in a rear wheel drive car (don't, please, I do not want to be blamed of your untimely demise anything).

As for the fact you can say you never use both pedals at the same time... it remains that using both feet of both pedals it's easier to mistake than when using only one to operate both, and this is the foundation of the law I told you before. It's maybe something that it can be accepted on a track during a race, for particular reasons... but not on a common road.