Look who's Driving

That's right folks, Kiefer is legally on the road! And all it took was:

• 3 trips to the DMV

• 2 trips to the Social Security office

• 1 attempt at passing the written test (okay that was old school, now it's on a computer)

Oh, and $7.00

3 trips to the DMV you ask? That's right-go with me here:

1. 1st trip (Monday w/ Mom)-find out someone else is using his Social Security Number

2. 2nd trip (Tuesday w/ Dad) After 2 trips to the S.S. office on Tuesday Dad runs K to the DMV to obtain the elusive permit-no dice, you must allow at least 24 hours for the system to register the S.S. office authorization-really? And no one thought to mention that at any point during the 5 phone calls, previous DMV visit, or the 2 SS visits? Really? Gotta love that government bureaucracy!

3. 3rd trip (Wednesday w/ Mom)-Eureka! We've struck gold, thankfully, we talked with a very kind woman in the AZ state office of investigations who looked into the matter while we were on the phone, and straightened it all out. She even gave me her direct number so I could call her from the DMV if they denied him again! We love Doris!

2 trips to the Social Security office--why 2 trips you ask?

1. Tuesday morning-not wanting to waste my time I go online and check out the Social Security website and look for information on what I need to do, because I'm a little (who are we kidding- a lot) compulsive I also call the national Social Security number as soon as it opens and find out exactly what I need to bring, and say and do to get the verification of Kiefer's number so he can get his permit. Then I strategically plan out my visit, I know if I get there first thing there will be a crowd of early to rise, beat the rush, get on with my day folks, go too late and I'll run into all the "finally got out of bed, guess I'll go to the Social Security office and yell at the employees about my benefits" folks. When I arrive I am euphoric- only 4 people ahead of me-unheard of at any government office, I know!!! I patiently allow the slightly scary man to paw through my purse, and smile when he tells me he will have to watch me power down my cell phone, and I am required to leave it off the entire time I am in the building (?what do they think I am going to do with it I wonder?). And, I wait, patiently. For me that is a big deal, I am not known for my patience and gentle demeanor when trying to resolve what I consider an insanely ridiculous problem.

My number is called, I proceed to lay out all my documents, birth certificates, student I.D. card, passports, my own driver’s license, and I was quite pleased that I spoke kindly and calmly. Until she said no! Then I was irked, excuse me? I said. "I'm sorry" she says, "but I need to protect his privacy." "From his mother?" I ask with an unbelieving voice. "Yes, at the age of 12 children are entitled to act for themselves and request their own information, but parents are no longer allowed to do so. I will need you to bring him here so he can request we verify his number." I explain that he's in school, and surely that's more important than protecting his privacy-from his mother! Look at all this paperwork I tell her, see here is my name on the birth certificate, here is my passport, and my license showing I am that same person. I ask her to just check and see if I have the right number, if it's wrong do nothing I say, I will come back. If it's right just print me the paper to give to the DMV, after all-I already have the number! And, I'm his mother-he's a child!



Then she tells me she "actually needs to verify that he is alive, all this paperwork just proves that at one point in time you gave birth to a child with this name. He may not be alive anymore."



So, steaming mad, and silently cursing our right to privacy, I drive to the high school and drag my son out of Chemistry, and down to the DMV we go. This time we've run right into that second crowd I mentioned before, and it's a little scary. Remind me sometime to tell you about first impressions. We wait, and it's not too long, better than I anticipated, in fact. Our number is called, and we walk up to the same lovely lady. I mutter to Kiefer that he should be nice, seeing as I had yelled at her just a short time ago. He is mortified, and I'm sure was silently cursing his luck to be born to a mother with quite a mouth on her. The lovely lady takes time to make a complete examination of our documents-the same ones I had presented and she had already examined I might add. She has a few choice words of wisdom to impart, and a gentle jab at me when she asks my son to breathe loudly, so she can make sure he is still alive. He looks at her a little oddly, but complies, and is promptly handed the paper with the stamp that verifies he is entitled to use the Social Security number listed above. We leave in a big hurry, before anyone can decide to do a physical, or something equally ridiculous.



As we leave I mention that he may want to grab his lunch and eat in the car, I'm not sure we will make it back to school in time for him to eat there. He doesn't have it he says, I ask where it is. Enter the sheepish grin as he tells me he ate it all before 2nd hour-but not all at once, some of it he ate before 1st hour-just so I don't think he was a pig or anything! Okay then, quick stop to grab him a hamburger-or two, stop by the house to add some fruit, and back to school he goes. **Note to self: write down all he eats in a day and post, all mothers of teenage boys will understand and commiserate with me.**

So, back to the point! Kiefer is legally driving, so if you are in the neighborhood proceed with caution, he's behind the wheel. Truthfully he's better than I expected, he's coming right along, and I'm sure will be ready to get his license in August.

CONGRATULATIONS KIEFER! You were a real trooper through the whole mess, patient and kind to everyone. The only comment he ever made about it was "If I had known it was going to take this long, I would have brought another book. One may not be enough." Typical!

And, in case you were wondering: *You can not get a credit report for a minor without beginning a fraud case with each credit reporting agency.  *You must call the Social Security Administration and ask them to begin a fraud investigation after you have called the credit agencies, not before*  Right now it seems the only thing done with his number was the Drivers License, and that could have been clerical error.  We will keep going just in case.  It should take 6-8 months to know for certain.*You can not get a new social security number unless all 3 major credit reporting agencies alert the SSA that your credit is such a tangled mess-through no fault of your own-there is no possible way to straighten it all out, then SSA will look into whether or not you should be given a new number, it is very rare I was told>