The fender bender (or in this case, the friender bender). A sure way to stop your day in its tracks. But, thankfully mine involved my dear friend Julie Kaiser, our multi-talented Editorial Director (who is in fact helping me edit this blog posting!). We meet at each other’s houses when possible to save on child care expenses while we plow through our long lists of action items for the Springfield Moms website … and catch up on the kids, of course!
Last Friday, I parked in her driveway at the bottom forgetting she would be leaving to pick up her daughter from preschool. In a matter of 1-2-CRASH, her car had plowed into mine.
Being a good friend, she came in right away and told me, “Kim, I just crashed into your car; I will be right back.”
So she went off to retrieve her daughter, and I went out to take a peek at my car. It didn’t look bad at all, but when I tried to leave, the car grumbled and would not drive straight down the road. Uh-oh, it’s worse than we thought.
Next step: tow trucks, shifting schedules, more Diet Cokes and calls to our insurance company (we share the same agent!). Long story short, I am now driving a very cute little rental car for a few weeks. The car can be repaired; it’s just a waiting game for parts.
Our friendship, however, is fully intact. We didn’t have to waste any angry energy on pointing fingers or angry words, something that is typical in any other fender bender.
The added bonus (even though I miss my “Mom’s Mobile” as I refer to it, the one with our logo on the back and the MOMS ORG license plate) is that I can be a rude driver this week with complete anonymity! (I promise not to flip anyone off!)
Another added bonus? My kids love the rental car! First observation: “Wow! This car is really clean, Mom!” “Gee, thanks kids, that’s because there aren’t any kids in it…yet!”
We do have new rules for the rental car, however, which include: no eating in the rental, and Mommy controls the radio. I figured it was a good idea to take a few weeks off of our CD stash of High School Musical, so as far as my kids know, there isn’t a CD player in this car. Shh! Don’t tell!
Simple pleasures.
Oh, and thanks for the peace and quiet, Julie!
