Five things you must know before your teen applies for a DMV learner's permit


Well, we put it off for as long as we could, but it's like trying to stop the tide from coming in. Those darn kids just won't stop growing up! Last week, The Pea finally got her driver's permit. Both Alfie and I got our first drivers license when were 17, so 15 1/2 seemed ridiculously young to start driving. How responsible can a teen that age be? But we bowed to the inevitable... and almost immediately The Pea proved our point about responsibility. We left the entire process of getting the permit to The Pea -- signing up for online driver's lessons, taking them, getting an appointment, gathering the paperwork. In typical Pea fashion, she didn't bother to gather the required paperwork until the night before her DMV appointment. This resulted in yours truly suffering through the morning commute traffic to get the proper forms and signatures so that The Pea wouldn't have to reschedule her written test.

Parents of 15 year-old would-be drivers, learn from my mistakes and PLAN ahead! Here are five things I've learned from this experience and written down so we don't make the same mistake when 3Po and Jammy are ready to get their permits: