Wreck on the Highway, so to speak!

Well, Saturday the 6th, was a day we wont forget to soon. We were out doing our weekly shopping for the house, and for 2 of our kids' birthday party. When we were exiting the store, we left in the usual manner, through the parking lot, and while we were driving down the lane to exit, a woman, in a red pick up truck came blasting through the parking lot. She was going through illegally, and faster than she should have been. She came around a big hill of snow, from the all the snow that was plowed, and she couldn't see us. So she went went in front of us. Obviously she couldn't see us due to the big snow hill, and she wasn't paying attention, or else she would've noticed our car coming down the lane. In any case, the inevitable happened, and we hit her blind side, on the driver side. Thankfully no one was seriously injured. In our car was me and Brook, and in her truck was her, and a baby. The baby was OK, and she appeared to be OK as well. Brook and I were not seriously injured, but we were pretty sore. The truck received damage to the door and body of truck just below the door. Our car, well, lets just say we didn't drive it all the way home, in fact we had to have a friend with a tow truck come and get it after a few blocks, as the motor was damaged heavily. So now, we play the waiting game, and wait for the insurance company to come out and look at the damager and either decide to fix the car, or give us a settlement check. I am hoping for the check, as the car was so damaged, that even if it were fixed, it will never run the same. The engine, as well as the tranny were damaged, and with those newer engines, they warp easy when hot. I noticed after the accident, how the engine was running terribly, and shaking really bad. So if they are gonna fix, they are going to put a new engine and transmission as well, or else this may have to go to court. I have to laugh, as I always see those lawyer commercials for accident victims, and now I may be one of those people. You know the ones, "I don't get paid unless you get paid". So hopefully this all works out in our favor, and we either get a new car or ours fixed the right way. You never realize how important your car is, until you lose it. Especially with us, as we use it for everything. From taking the kids to the doctors, to using it for work and school. We always said we need two cars, just for the simple fact if one of us uses one, the other will have one for emergencies or things of that nature. Well, I had wished that we did have another one now. So I hope the insurance company moves quickly on this, as we cant afford to be without a car for very long. This just goes to show you, that you never know when misfortune will fall upon you. I hope that everyone who reads this will learn from our mishap, and get that second car if you don't have one, and another thing to be learned from this, is that it doesn't matter how good of a driver you are, there are others out there who cant or don't know how to drive properly or defensively. But, even though we have had this happen. We are glad that no one was seriously hurt, and that we didn't have any of the kids with us.

Our First Post Together! "Kids & Social Networking Websites?"

   Tonite while we were going to bed, we starting talking about this blog and how easy it is for people to network online to meet people, dating, and even employment. We then realized that our oldest son, is a member of several "Social Networking" websites, such as Facebook and other sites. Trust us, theres quite a few. We then started thinking about the rules of some of these sites, as well as the hidden dangers, like pedifiles, identity thieves, and other nasty little people. Of course, most of the websites he uses are kid oriented, and these are usually the ones where you find the "Pervs", hiding out. But there are others like Facebook and MySpace, have age limits, and alot of kids these days alter the date of birth required for sign up. So it may say they are 16 or 18 years old, but in reality, these kids are as young as 10. This obviously poses all kinds of trouble just waiting to happen. So we decided to enforce some "Parental Law", and have him delete and/or close some, if not most of these accounts he has. Of course he wont be too happy, but oh well, his safety and our sanity, supersede any and all reasonable arguments he may have. But this rule will apply to all our children. So even if they dont have an account with any of these types of websites, they will be limited in the future, if and when they decide they want one.
   In this day and age, it is not safe to leave the kids alone in thier rooms. It used to be the most you had, was a TV, or at best a radio and/or some toys. But today they have computers, gaming consoles, cell phones, and internet. Everything they need to explore and communicate with the world. This is not to say that you should lock them up in the basement, or shelter them from the outside world or society, but rather stay in touch, and keep on top of them. Make sure they are using the internet properly and safely. Dont be afraid to ask to see thier cell phones and check texts and sent/recieved calls. Give them all the room they need to grow, but keep a watchful eye on the websites they visit, and the friends they associate with. As parents its our duty to make sure they grow up smart, and not just book smart, but common sense smart as well. Its too easy to get fooled on the internet and texting, its too anonymous. Anyone can pretend to be anyone they want, and its too easy for people to get in contact with others, especially if you belong to many social networking websites. We try to educate our kids about the world, and how its not always sunny, and not everyone is a friend or can be trusted. Its sad when you think about it, we want so much for our kids, we want a world where they all fit in, and where everyone cares about the guy next to him. But the truth is that this world can be hard, and things only get tougher as you go on. Which is why we always wish for our kids to be successful, so that they wont have to struggle or have to worry about the things we have had to. Its funny how something as simple as a blog, can turn into a childs future. Now I have to go find my son, so he can show me how to publish this to our blog!