Slide, slide, bang, bang

It's never the call you want to get. On Thursday I was getting ready to lay down for a quick rest before going to pick up my daughter at school. I had been sick, so a little rest was much wanted.

My wife had left the house about 10 minutes before and as I put my head down on the pillow my phone began to ring. For a moment, I thought about not picking up, but when I saw it was my wife I assumed she was reminding me to do something before I left or pick something up while I was out.

Instead what I heard when I answered the phone was my youngest daughter crying and my wife informing me that she had slid off the road and hit a telephone pole.

Quickly I threw on my shoes, jumped in my truck and headed down the road. Sure enough, when I came up on the scene I saw my Jeep against the pole, but without major damage. The airbags were deployed, the front end was smashed, but my wife and daughter were fine. That was the all that really mattered.

So now I get to see the accident from a child's eye. First my oldest daughter asked if we were going to paint our Jeep red or if we were going to get a new car -- a pink one would be cool.

Then there's the tiny one who was in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

She was sick as well, so I put her car seat in my truck and got ready to take her to the doctor. As we began backing down the driveway, she gripped on her seat and said, "Wow, I think we're going too fast!" So I traveled to Cloverdale at a snail's pace so that she wouldn't feel out of control.

Now we've got our rental car for the week and it's gone from "I miss Jeepy" to "Dad, can we keep it?" I like our new little ride, but I've learned my two children can't be in that close of quarters. On our first trip into town, the first thing my oldest did was haul off and hit her younger sister.

I might enjoy the better gas mileage and new looks, but nothing can replace those precious few inches that keep my kids just outside of striking distance.