I’ve been teaching my son how to drive over the last few months and it has been an interesting experience. So far no accidents and I’m more patient teaching him than I thought I would be. The law here in Illinois requires that kids have at least 50 hours behind the wheel before they can get their license, 10 of those hours have to be at night. That is a good thing in my opinion. But getting that 50 hours is harder than you think. Also, there is the fact that I love to drive. It is hard to give up the keys and the driver’s seat. I grew up in Oregon, worked on farms and was driving tractors and other vehicles well before I was able to get a license. My son doesn’t have that opportunity so he’s doing most of the driving at the moment. One thing that has helped his driving, or at least prepared him have been video games. He plays a lot of driving games and I truly believe he’s learned some valuable skills while playing. Learning to steer, stay focused and looking ahead down the road have not been problems. But it is still no substitute for being behind the wheel, which is where I want to be but more importantly it is where he needs be. There are too many people out there who shouldn’t be behind the wheel. I’m trying to make sure he isn’t one of them.

25 hours down and 25 to go.