“Josh Duhamel Gets Real About Raising a Pre-Teen: First Dates, Driving Lessons & Growing Pains”

Josh Duhamel’s eldest son is all grown up!

The actor, 52, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that he is adjusting to the realities of raising an almost-teenager, as son Axl gets ready to celebrate his 12th birthday later this month.

Explaining that “there’s always something new” going on in his life as a dad of two, Duhamel — who shares Axl with ex Fergie, and is also a father to son Shepherd, 18 months, with wife Audra Mari — says, “I have an 11-year-old who just went to camp in Minnesota and met a girl he really likes.”

“He really wants to see this girl again from camp,” the Off the Grid star continues. “I’m like, ‘Dude! You’re not even 12.’ So that’s going to be parent-supervised.”

“That’s a new one for me as a parent, anyway. But I get it, I’ve been there,” adds Duhamel, then teasing: “I have an 18-month-old baby who is still pooping his pants, and I just hope it doesn’t inverse. I hope that the 11-year-old doesn’t poop his pants on his first date. That would be terrible.”

Alongside navigating dating, Duhamel is also preparing for the moment when son Axl will get his learner’s permit — and eventually become a licensed driver.

“I’m going to be an anxious mess, I mean, like every parent,” he admits. “I’m guessing my mother was an anxious mess. I just didn’t know about it.”

Still, Duhamel says he is easing his anxiety by already getting Axl accustomed to all the highs and lows that come with driving.

“I’m already kind of training him. I’ll put him in my lap and teach him, ‘Okay, this is what you do, and this is what you look for, this is what you’ve got to scan,’ just to start getting him accustomed to what it takes to actually handle the responsibility of being a driver,” he explains. “I want to get that in his head as soon as possible.”

Duhamel himself is a big car guy — which is where his partnership with CarGurus for the company’s new video series, The Big Deal Show, comes in.

In the clips from the brand, which is an online marketplace for buying and selling cars, Duhamel and influencer and actress Maggie Thurmon bond over transportation, from the first vehicles they ever owned to what their dream car would be.

“I think that it’s such a personal thing to own a car, and especially your first car — what that means and all the memories that come with that,” Duhamel tells PEOPLE. “It’s a really important thing, and I think CarGurus makes it a lot easier for young people to go out and get their first car.”

Nowadays, the Transformers alum says how he utilizes a car has changed since his teenage years. “As a kid, you just want to get from your mom’s house to your friend’s house. So it just depends on what your needs are,” he explains.

“It’s all different things, and every car represents a different thing for every single person,” adds Duhamel.