difficult child 1 passed his written test for driver's permit!

[gcvmom]

It was the afternoon in purgatory -- a scene right out of the waiting room in Beetlejuice, I kid you not! That's a government office for ya!

And difficult child 1 with his perfectionist tendencies gave the clerk behind the counter a chuckle. She handed him a paper with his name and address to verify. He made sure he read every. single. line. She winked at me and said he was being very careful, and that that was GOOD because half the time people sign that paper without so much as a second glance at the information she's asking them to verify. Yup, that's my difficult child! And he took his sweet old time on the 44-question multiple-choice test, going back over his answers and even changing and rechanging a few of them. That is soooo him. He took over 30 minutes on this test. Missed 4 out of the 8 max you can miss and still pass, so it's all good.

Now I have to call the behind-the-wheel training class and get that going so he can get the permit activated and start the next phase of his training.

Bar tender! Mama's gonna need a double!

 

[TeDo]

Sometimes obsessiveness/perfectionism has its good points. I'll get the next round gcv! LOL

 

[KTMom91]

Sending tequila sh*Tourette's Syndrome your way...

...and let me remind you that, in the first six months of permit/license, Miss KT turned up the handicapped curb and drove down the sidewalk, knocked down a stop sign while backing off our property ($600 bucks and they wouldn't let me keep the sign), wiped out the side of the truck on the concrete barriers at the gas station, and hit the entrance gates of the school parking lot the first day she drove to school. I love that 77 Silverado...good old solid Detroit steel, built to withstand difficult child driving!

 

[TeDo]

KT, you'd better send her many tequila BOTTLES after hearing your story. Makes me more convinced my difficult children will never drive until they buy their own cars AND insurance AND pay to get their own licenses!!!! I don't think my budget can handle it!!

 

[DammitJanet]

KTmom's reasons are exactly why my kids didnt get their licenses before age 18. I was darned if I was going to be responsible for any of them behind the wheel...lol. Jamie got his license when he went into the Marines and had to have one to get in so he could drive the fleet vehicles that Uncle Sam owned. He later learned to drive a regular car in the traffic around Difficult Child...lol. Cory got his license here at 18 or 19 and promptly lost it because he refused to pay a seatbelt ticket. Billy got his license 3 years ago and got into a wreck...fender bender...6 months after having the licenses. Nope...not putting a kid on my insurance!

 

[Hound dog]

Mine didn't learn to drive until they were 18 too. I found it a much calmer experience, and they took it more seriously.

And like Janet, no way was I paying for insurance for under 18. wow lol

 

[timer lady]

chicken lady, you're a brave woman. Let's see ~ hmmmm, kt & wm driving. I think not.

I chuckled at the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) stuff when he took his test. It worked in this case. Congrats to difficult child!.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Hate going to the DMV....

Timing is interesting on your post - Thursday difficult child started studying his book for the written test. Our goal was the permit by the end of the summer since classroom begins in the fall at school. Scary huh?

Sharon

 

[keista]

Congratulations!

Even after reading the battle stories, I'm a bit jealous. Son was excited to get his permit BEFORE he turned 15. Now he's petrified and is refusing to do the preliminary online classes (drug and alcohol awareness) needed to get the permit. In his case, i think he will make a very good driver, his concerns/fears confirm that even more. So maybe he'll get his permit at 16?

by the way my insurance agent told me that you can keep your child in the learner's permit phase until they are 18 and it will NOT affect the premium. Don't know if that's for all insurance companies, or all states, but something to look into.

 

[TerryJ2]

Very good! I thought the permit was activated at the DMV when the kids passed the test. Maybe ea state is different. Anyway, by the end of next wk, you will be an expert at stepping on an invisible brake on the passenger side of the car.

 

[Wiped Out]

Congrats to your difficult child! I always made husband take out easy child/difficult child. I wasn't brave enough. She is a good driver now.

 

[crazymama30]

Good job difficult child. Mom??? Hang in there.

 

[tiredmommy]

Cool! Now you have a daughter in the house!

 

[gcvmom]

Thanks everyone!

Tomorrow at 11am the teacher will be here to pick up difficult child 1 for his first 2-hour behind-the-wheel lesson -- so YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!! After the instructor signs off on the permit tomorrow, difficult child 1 will be allowed to drive with a parent. In our state, teen drivers under 18 with a permit must log 50 hours with a parent (10 of which must be at night) along with 6 hours (minimum) with a driving instructor before they can apply for their license. He's a junior this year and turns 17 in about 6 more weeks, but I would really like for him to be able to drive himself and all his gear to LAX practice in the afternoons this school year, so that's one reason I'm pushing him to get this done.

I was told by our insurance co. that I don't have to pay anything extra for difficult child 1 on our policy until he actually gets his license -- which I'm hoping we can put off until next year. And then it's about an extra $500 every 6 months for him to be a secondary driver -- meaning he's the third driver in a 2-car family. Once we get a third car and he automatically is assumed primary on one of them, the rate skyrockets into the stratosphere. So I told him that until he can afford THAT insurance (i.e. has a job), he will be sharing a vehicle with his parents, and sharing in the upkeep and cost of gas, too!

I plan to have him drive me to the mall tomorrow after his lesson so that I can run some errands, and then we'll stop and pick up easy child from day camp on the way home (I'll have to drive from there, since he's not alloweed to drive anyone under the age of 25 until he gets his license). So he'll get maybe about 30 minutes of drivng logged right there!

 

[gcvmom]

TM, you're right!

 

[HaoZi]

Congrats to difficult child and good luck!

 

[smallworld]

In Maryland, teen drivers with a permit must log 60 hours with a parent. It's not easy! difficult child 1 has been working on it since January. We think he's ready to take his test for his license -- he's actually a good driver -- he just needs to rack up 20 more hours!

Congrats to your difficult child 1!

 

[TerryJ2]

A good plan. Best of luck. I'm sure you'll be back with-some reports.

 

[AnnieO]

You, my dear, have a lot more nerve than I do.

I was petrified of Onyxx driving. I could see her getting angry and getting aggravated vehicular assault and/or homicide during the permit time. I'm not kidding.

She refused to study for the test, though - and ours is now computerized - get X number of questions wrong and it stops the test. THANK GOODNESS. 2x failing it. Whew!

And now? She may not get her license till she gets out of jail, at the rate she is going.

I'll send you a bottle when he gets his full license... Cuervo, Patron or...?

 

[gcvmom]

LOL!

He came home after his 2-hour session with the instructor and said he felt like he was going to throw up -- that's how nervous he was! I went ahead and booked his 2nd and third classes for Thursday and Monday. And in the mean time, he'll be practice a lot with me.

After he had a chance to unwind, I had him drive me about 4 miles to the shop to get my car smog-checked since it's due this month with my registration. He did pretty well! I made him switch when we got to the tiny, crowded parking lot so I could maneuver into a spot without holding up traffic. After that, he drove 4 more miles to the mall, even made a left turn at a major intersection, and parked in the parking structure between two cars! I was very impressed. He's still got a long way to go, but for his first time out on the road with me I thought he did really well. Coming back home, he gladly gave me back the keys saying he'd had enough driving for one day!

Tomorrow we'll go see my mom for a bit. She's about 35 miles away via freeways, but I'm not putting him on THAT road yet -- too much traffic for him still. I'll probably have him drive TO the freeway and then we'll switch, and then back again when we get off onto city streets. We'll think about freeways after about 40 hours, which should put him somewhere in September I think.