Do you ever just think about something that happened (that you had no control over) and try to figure out if there was something that you could have done to prevent it???? That is where I am right now.
After nap time today I decided to take Chanler and Jessaleigh to a nearby park while we were waiting for Scott to come home. This park is on the route that Scott takes to get home so I knew I would see him and know it was time to leave. No problem, I see Scott (he didn’t see me wave to him, but no big deal), so I started packing up my kids and stuff. Got Jessaleigh into her car seat (passenger side), got the blanket, sand toys, purse etc. and then got Chanler. I opened the drivers side rear door and started to get him into his seat, but he was complaining about sand in his shoes so we took a moment to dump both shoes. OK that’s done now into the seat, two buckles and I am about to tighten the straps, when THUMP some moron clips my door. Yes the door that is open because I AM STANDING IN THE DOOR WAY BUCKLING MY KID. What the &%$@. The person stops, then starts driving again, meanwhile I am thankfully not hurt by the door on its return path after being hit and am now in a panic because my car has been hit, my kids are scared, and the perp is driving away. Thankfully there was a nice woman also at the park who started taking down the plates and keeping an eye on my car/kids while I ran down the street screaming at the car to stop. Half a block down the driver FINALLY pulls over and gets out. She barely speaks English – Great. I call Scott to come down and then call 9-1-1. The police came and took a report, Scott got her information (BTW she “didn’t have her license with her”) and our neighbor (who happened to be running nearby when this happened) entertained Chanler with his dog. All in all the damage to my car is not huge – the door panel is bent, but still functions – but I have been sitting around all night thinking about why this happened and what I could have done to avoid it … so far I haven’t come up with anything more that – I shouldn’t have gone to the park.
On a brighter note: I ran into an old friend from high school. Blast from the past! He was with his wife (of 2 months). It was so good to see him and catch up a bit. Maybe I’ll actually manage to keep in touch with people going forward – probably not, but I can always hope.