On a scale of 1 to 10

It's that time again. We have a pre-driver in the house and he needs to complete a list of tasks before he can take his permit test.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how'd I do, Mom?

You did great, Jesse. I'd give you a 10.

Thank you, Mom.

No, thank you, Jesse.

Jesse's no procrastinator. He can now check date with mom off his list.

About a month ago, I was gone for the evening and received this message on my cell phone,

Hello, Cindy, this is Jesse. I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner and a movie tomorrow night? You can call me back at this number to let me know. Thanks. Bye.

He made me smile. But unfortunately I was busy the next night. Tonight, our schedules were finally free so off we went.

He was very sweet, insisting that I had to pick the movie (I would have preferred Titanic 3D but he wasn't into having me cover his eyes during a certain scene so I said forget it) and the restaurant. He held the door for me. We played games with the sugar packets at the table. We played paper football. I think I won because he seemed to be making up the rules as he went. I suggested we should talk since we were on a date. Shouldn't he be trying to learn more about me? He suggested "Rock. Paper. Scissors." Then he showed me his skill at killing flies. Lovely.

But all-in-all, he definitely passed the test. If he weren't my son, I'd let him date my daughter. He knew the right answers to my dating quiz. We're off to a good start.