PARK the Car???

My son is taking his on-the-road driving test tomorrow. This whole "driving" thing has been quite an ordeal for me, personally. Here in Idaho, kids start driving at age 14. Yes. You read that correctly. Ten plus four years old. In California kids drive at 16, and mine don't drive until age 18. My premise is that driving is an adult activity, coupled with adult responsibility. So, my 18-year-old, "adult," high school senior son has been pretty adament about getting his driver's license, NOW. Obviously, he's the ONLY senior at his school who does not drive a car to school or even have his own wheels, which means girls have to pick him up for dates, etc., etc.

So, he took Driver Training, which is actually still offered here in high school. He was, of course, the "only senior in driver training class," but he went along with it because he knew it would bring him closer to his ultimate goal. Besides, putting him behind the wheel on the icy winter roads with a certified driving instructor suited me very well. Also, I reminded him that legally, the school must provide driver training to anyone up to age 21, so really, he wasn't too old to be in Driver Training class (should anyone show up who already graduated from high school).

He completed his training, and passed his written test yesterday. Tomorrow is the big day. Turns out his tester will be his driver training teacher from school, with whom we made an appointment by calling his home phone number (this is a small town). We'll be meeting him at the municipal pool parking lot. By the way, my son was worried about parallel parking, so I taught him how to do it. As it turns out, they don't test parallel parking here. The tester informed me that the State of Idaho does not consider parking as "driving." That's like saying landing an airplane is not considered "flying!"

My son is confident he'll pass the test. Once he attains his license, he will have one simple rule: stay away from all other drivers in the student parking lot!