Day 41

Ok, so you know we're studying the Constitution this year. Well, we didn't today because we ran out of time before going to put the last touches on the paint at the other house. But we definitely got a civics lesson tonight. On our way home from the painting, we were hit by a drunk driver. We're all totally fine, and the car has very little damage. The guy must have been almost stopped. We were waiting at a light, and there was this thud. I thought it might be something in the back of the car that fell over, like the weed eater.

Then I realized that we hadn't taken any lawn equipment and there wasn't anything in the back; so I looked in the rearview mirror and the pickup truck behind me was suspiciously close, and the guy was just looking down at something like nothing had happened. I got out and went back to talk to him and he said, "Did I hit you?" It was a completely legitimate question; he had no idea. He was so drunk, he didn't know he hit me! We decided to pull into a parking lot, but I checked his license plate first because I could see he was drunk and was sure he would just drive on past.

He didn't though, and we looked at my bumper. It was hardly damaged, but I decided we should call the police. I'm sure he was really happy about that. He knew he'd be arrested for drunk driving, but he didn't try to leave. Also, the lady behind him pulled in to make sure we were ok, because she had been behind him for several minutes and knew he was totally drunk. She called the police and told them all about that, and they got there pretty soon.

I had told the kids they could stand by the car so they didn't get hot sitting inside it, but one of the officers gave me a form to fill out and said for us to wait in the car. We all got back in, and Sarah asked why we needed to wait in the car. I said, "Because you always do whatever a policeman says to do." She said she knew that but wondered if there was a specific reason he said to. Then pretty soon by the back of our van on the side we had been standing on they were handcuffing the man. That was something new for the kids. Well, me too. This was his fifth time being arrested for drunk driving! I guess that was why they wanted us in the car instead of standing around for that.

It was absolutely crazy! I honestly feel like if he hadn't hit us that way, he would have had a much worse accident. He had already almost hit another car right before he hit me. It's a little terrifying that he was drunk. It could have been so bad. I'm so thankful it wasn't.

The kids learned a lot from that experience. I'm not sure they could list it. Sam wasn't sure he learned anything, but of course he did. We learned to always call the police no matter how small the accident is, we learned that there are people willing to help like that lady who was a witness, the kids learned that a person gets arrested when they're driving drunk. I don't know that we've ever talked about that specifically before. As a new driver, Rachel has had an experience I've never had before. I wasn't sure whether to call the police at first--until I realized he was drunk of course. Now we're going to learn all about what happens when dealing with the car insurance company. So much in the world to know!

Oh, Rachel filled out her voter registration too. She'll be voting this November for the first time! Civics all over the place today!

I honestly don't remember what we did before we went painting. We did have school, but my brain has an overload after the accident. I even drove right past the highway exit on our way home after that. Guess I'd better get to sleep!

See you tomorrow!