Drive with your teenagers for the first 5,000 miles before they get their license. Someone told my husband that teenagers have more accidents in this period than at any other time. Clinging to our lives, my husband and I did this with both of our daughters. We drove on highways, dark alleys, and back roads so they would be prepared for any kind of situation.

I tried my best to teach my son everything I could about his car, which is a 1997 Ford Ranger stick. I went over maintenance and other mechanical things in great detail until I was confident he knew how to operate that vehicle inside and out. Unfortunately, I didn’t do as good a job as I’d thought: The first night my son had his license, a policeman pulled him over as he was getting on the highway. Startled, my son looked up at the officer and squeaked, “I wasn’t speeding, was I?” The officer shook his head and smiled, then reached in and clicked his headlights on. In my haste to educate my son about cars, I forgot to mention the simplest thing of all!

From the day my kids turned 15 to the moment they got their driving permits, I took them to the graveyard to practice driving every day. It’s important to get as much behind-the-wheel experience as possible before going out on real roads, and the graveyard is an excellent place to practice; it has streets, stop signs and very little traffic. Plus, I always joke they can’t kill anybody, since everybody is already dead!

I hate to say it, but the kid is lazy! We talk about him getting a job, but he never does it.

Tell him about the value of work and money, and also that work is a great way to get away from his parents. My son worked this past summer for a family friend; raking leaves, picking vegetables, and watering her plants. He worked two to three times a week for four hours at a stretch, and she paid him for his work. My son was very proud of himself, and he saved enough money for a gas-powered, remote-controlled car that he really wanted.

Teach your teenagers money management skills and how to save money. Allow them to earn their allowance, and help them to understand the value of money.

Our girls get $20 a month for allowance; however, they only get to keep half. The other half goes into a savings account they manage. This money can be used later for big-ticket items, like a cell phone or a car. We allow them to do whatever they want with the other half of their allowance, free and clear. They also get to choose how to spend their birthday money and anything they earn for doing odd jobs. We’ve had this system for two years, and both girls have more than $300 in their accounts. If you do the math, this means they have occasionally chosen to put away more than the $10 per month we require. Obviously, they are learning to appreciate the value of saving.