DRIVERS' ED

Sergei is taking Drivers' Ed.  He has been begging for this for a long time. I've held off because neither Aidan nor Lydia got their drivers' licenses until they were 18.  I've presented that as our "family rule", though it was a family rule that came about by accident.

With Aidan, it was a mistake.  I had him hold off on the classes until he was 16.  In Michigan kids can take Drivers Ed when they are 14 years and 9 mos. old, or something ridiculous like that; I think that is way too young - they began to let them start that young when they added a number of restrictions at the other end.  In any case, no 14 or 15 year old in my family will ever take Drivers Ed!  When Aidan did take it at 16, he misunderstood what he was supposed to do.  He was supposed to take the card saying he'd passed the training to the Secretary of State and get a Learner's Permit.  Instead, he thought the card was the Learner's Permit, and since this was a "passage of adulthood", I had left him in charge of it, and knew no different.    Additionally, I was pretty strict on the practice-driving supervision; I vowed  that I'd never sign off on his practice driving until I could ride around with him without white knuckles.  He  was 17 and a half before that happened.  When he went in to get his license, they pointed out that all he was eligible for was a Learner's Permit, because he'd failed to get one (and done all his practicing illegally, as it happened).  So, it was simpler to just go in when he was 18 and get his license; he would have had to wait that long anyway.

Lydia, for her part, was a reluctant driver. She had no particular desire to go to Drivers Ed, and only went with a friend her senior year of High School.  So, she too, got her license at 18.

 I am not (as you can perhaps tell) a fan of teen drivers.  While "taking Drivers Ed" sounds innocent enough, it is really a Pandora's Box.  Once a child can drive, oddly enough, they want to drive.  And, as they don't have a car, they want to drive your car!  So, you are faced with either often not having your car when you need it, or constant pleas for use of it, or a combination of both.  Furthermore, once your child drives a family car UP goes the insurance premiums......no matter if they only drive with you, or only drive rarely.  Same increased expense.  And, there is the push, the nag, the whine about wanting their "own car".  And, there is the parental vacillation - it is annoying to always be lending out one's car.  However, once your teen has his/her own car, you have so much less control over  where they go and who they go with, even how long they are gone....  Before that, you can more easily demand your car back at a certain time.  When they have their own car, you have that much less "say" about it. 

Kids do need to break away, but I like to delay that as long as I can......

Be that as it may, Sergei is taking Drivers Ed.  I think he'll be a good driver; he is serious and competent and very law-abiding by nature.  But, of course....he is already hoping for his "own car".......