A place for my step's stuff
Quick - find your driver's license.
If you have one, there's a good chance you've already found it. It's in your wallet, or in your purse, or in your front pocket.
Remember when you first got it? How long did it take you to remember to carry it with you at all times?
I'm in the middle of a discussion with Kayla, my older stepdaughter, about this subject. She recently got her learner's permit, and over the weekend she wanted to drive from her grandmother's house to Blockbuster. 
"Oh, wait," she said. "I can't. Never mind."
"Why can't you?" I asked.
"I don't have my permit. I left it in mom's car." (We were in my car at the time).
I spotted a lesson there. "Your permit is something you should carry on you at all times," I said. "You wouldn't think of leaving the house without your cell phone. You should treat your permit the same way."
That struck a nerve, but not the one I wanted to strike. What I intended as experienced counsel, Kayla interpreted as "attitude" (by the way, she wasn't entirely wrong about that. But it missed the main point, which was that she could be driving more if she followed that advice).
Lesson lost.
So help me out here. If you've got a child old enough to drive, how did you get him or her to realize the importance of carrying a permit or license at all times?
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