This post is a bit late in coming (sorry Melanie) but my dear wife wanted me to post a bit about Anthony's driver's test which was almost 2 weeks ago.
Anthony was not in much of a hurry to get his driver's license at first, but after a bit, he really wanted it. I made the mistake of trying to put the personal responsibility for signing up for driver's education on him. I learned from other parents that this was not the way to go, but by then it was a bit too late and we ended up doing "parent taught" driver's education. This was in part due to all of his activities keeping him from being able to take any sort of regular driver's education class.
It took us a long time to get his driving hours in. This was largely because of the large number of activities he participates in. Then there is the fact that he goes to a magnet high school and the trip to school takes us over a very busy stretch of freeway at some of the worst times of day. Once we found the time to get some driving in, he quickly got to the point that we were confident enough to have him drive back and forth to school. After we felt he was safe enough on the freeway, it was time to go ahead and take the test.
After some snafus, Anthony didn't get a piece of paperwork from his school so he could take the test over Christmas Break, we finally got a test scheduled and I simply picked him up from school to take his test. It is incredibly inconvenient that testing times are only during school hours. I was pleasantly surprised that we really didn't have to wait long, Anthony even started his test shortly before his appointed time. After doing some paperwork we went out and Anthony parked the van along a chain-link fence behind another driver to wait for someone to give him the test. The woman that came out to give the test ahead of him, was pleasant, good humored, and seemed to be in a good mood--not really certain what she was doing working for the DMV. I was surprised at this and had high hopes that Anthony would also have a pleasant tester, this was NOT to be the case. The woman that came out for Anthony looked angry and unpleasant. Then the father of the boy she just failed came out to speak to her. We could hear her tell him that the boy was speeding in a school zone (automatic failure). Then after she spent some time talking to them, and getting in an even worse mood, it was time for Anthony's test. I could tell Anthony was nervous before she even got into the van.
I watched Anthony pull away to the area where they do the parallel parking, an activity used so often that they have to set up their own special area to test it because there is no where nearby. He clearly had problems with the parallel parking. My thought while watching was, "oh, well, looks like we come back and test again." Time went by as I waited for their return, and finally I saw him pulling the van in and parking. I walked out to the parking lot to greet him, and saw a very animated dialogue from his tester so I held back, quite certain that he failed at this point. Then they got out of the car and she said, "He did a good job, but was clearly nervous." --He passed! Honestly, I was surprised, and very happy for him. Later I told him that I was very impressed he could pass with a tester that was so ... "happy."
It took us little time to take advantage of having a new driver. Letting him take his brother to a movie and pick him up afterwards, and this week he has even driven his brother and another boy to school. Yesterday when the boys came home they stopped at HEB to buy themselves some junk food and relish in their new-found freedom. I am still nervous every time he drives off, but I suppose that will fade with time. Today, I brought home a new car for my lovely wife, something I am sure she will post about on her own. This means that now we have 3 cars, so I suppose we will have to loosen the chains even more and let him start driving himself back and forth to school.
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