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Last Saturday, Josiah took the ACT (college enrollment test). The ACT is the test frequently taken by college applicants in the US Midwest. Here in the Eastern US, most students take the SAT. Unfortunately for Josiah, his mother has signed him up to take both tests. He will be taking the SAT next month.

The ACT is not offered in as many high school locations as the SAT, so Josiah had to drive 30 minutes north from home to the test location. He was required to sign in by 8am Saturday morning, and bring identification, two number 2 pencils, an eraser, a calculator, and a snack.

Prior to Saturday, the farthest north Josiah had driven alone was to Quantico. In the hand drawn maps and exit number memorization quizzes I had given him when he was learning to drive, the I95 map’s accuracy ended at exit 118 to the south and exit 150 to the north. Beyond exit 118 was simply “driving to Richmond” and beyond exit 150 was simply “driving to DC.”

I could lie and say that I thought long and hard about whether I should allow Josiah to find his way to the testing location in a timely manner, but you wouldn’t believe me. I didn’t consider it for a moment. Instead, we drove two cars. Thankfully, it turned out to be a fairly straightforward trip up Highway 1. We arrived at 0740, and I got out of the van and walked over to the car. Josiah opened up his door and looked at me with a quizzical expression. “I’ve got 20 minutes,” he said.

“Get out of the car,” I replied.

As usual for him, no thought was made to the number of people waiting in line to sign in, the need to find the room he was assigned to in a high school he had never been inside of, or any other such planning and preparation.

Why not just dash into the school at the last minute, slide into a desk, and fill in some ovals?

As I was standing behind him inside the school watching him show his identification while he held a paper lunch sack with his name written on it, I realized how I must look to the other students and the test administrator. They are looking at a kid who has a beard, drives a car, is 17 years old, and is followed everywhere by a very testing mother.

After he signed in, I told Josiah “Good Luck” and walked out. I had already instructed him on how to drive home after the test.

Maybe it’s time to let him grow up and accept responsibility. The cost to me is not great: just $49.50 if he should per chance miss the test because he doesn’t get up on time, departs late, gets lost while driving, sits in his parked car too long, forgets to sign in, goes to the wrong room, leaves his cell phone on in his pocket, loses both pencils, etc.

Surely, that wouldn’t happen.