Bryson got his permit the day he turned 15. Driving had a steep learning curve. He actually went through a phase late last summer/early fall where he didn't want to drive at all. It was stressful and he wasn't automatically good at it, so he didn't like it. I let him take a break for a few weeks, during which we had lots of talks about how we get better at things- it's only by trying and practicing and persevering!
I learned about the Stages of Skill Mastery a few years ago, and while it applies to almost all new things that we learn, it totally applies to learning to drive:
Stage One- "Unconsciously Incompetent": You just don't know what you don't know. It looks easy and you think it's going to be easy. Other people who know how to do it make it look easy. When you're learning something new, you start in this phase and then really quickly move to...
Stage Two- "Consciously Incompetent": Now you do know what you don't know. It's harder than it looks! It doesn't just come naturally. You're going to have to practice and work to get better. A lot of people quit here (if quitting is an option) because it just seems too difficult, too overwhelming, too much work. But if you keep at it, you'll eventually progress to...
Stage Three- "Consciously Competent": You can do it, but you have to really, really think about doing it. It was hard, but it's getting easier and easier. If you stick with it and keep practicing, you move to...
Stage Four- "Unconsciously Competent": You do it on auto-pilot now. You don't have to think about doing it, it's like it's second nature. Riding a bike, sports, long-division, reading, playing the piano, typing. So many things start out hard, but if you stick with it, you master the skill and it becomes easy!
So he started driving again. And he got better and better. He had fulfilled all the requirements to get his license (drivers ed and 60 hours of supervised driving), but still hadn't taken the actual driving test. Driving schools had also been closed down because of Covid, but they were permitted to open a few weeks ago, so 5 days before his 16th birthday, Bryson took his drive test. And failed it. He was so upset, but he got over it, it happens! He had to wait 7 days to retake, but unfortunately, in that week, his permit expired (on his 16th birthday). And you can't take a drivers test on an expired permit. And the DMV is closed because of stupid Covid. And you can only renew your permit in person at the DMV, it's actually a state law! Ugh. I talked to someone at the DMV and she said that it was in process for a work around, but she didn't know how long it would be until that happened. So frustrating. It made it all the more painful for him to have failed the test. And all the more painful for me because he was starting work at Silverwood, an hour away!
A few days after his birthday, they extended the expiration dates on permits so he was able to take his drivers test again... I was all pins and needles as he drove off:
Good thing I had a cute little distraction in the car:
I was a little worried when he came back so soon, but this time, he was all smiles!
So the next morning, he printed off his temporary license and he drove himself to work!
Dad was nice and let Bryson drive his car since driving the truck is a little more unwieldy and Dad's drive to the office isn't very far.
The official license:
And in record time, he took Nicole Vernon out on his first date!
Of course, since he's a new driver, he can't drive non-family members for 6 months, so he drove to her house and she drove them to the restaurant. It's just so fun to watch him grow up and see what a great kid he continues to be- bittersweet for sure though.
