You don't HAVE to drive with a parent, but it's best to drive with your parents. They know you, and they know how you learn best. If you have problems with your mom, you need to sit down and talk it out with her. Ask her to be a little quieter, and not as nervous. It sounds to me like she is nervous about you driving. You both need to relax. Don't get flustered with her though. She is trying to make sure you learn. She just wants you to know all you can know.
As for the blind spots. My behind the wheel instructor did a demonstration with me during some of our hours. He made me pull over. He got out of the car and was explaining blind spots. He told me to look in my driver's side mirror and he slowly walked towards the car. There was eventually a point where I couldn't see him in the mirror even though he was there. Basically what they mean when they say check your blind spots, is look over your shoulder, in the direction you are moving over (left or right) and just make sure that there aren't any cars beside you. Basically when you are checking your blind spots, you are checking to make sure it's safe for you to move over into the other lane, or turn or whatever.
So if you are on a road and the instructor tells you to move into the left lane, you would put your left blinker on, and look over your left shoulder to make sure that it is safe and clear to move over. That's how you check your blind spots. Trust your mirrors to an extent but ALWAYS look over your shoulder too.
