I was sitting at home working with my daughter on her homework before dinner when I got one of those dreaded "middle of the night" type calls. You know the one that instantaneously something is wrong.
Monday's for us are hectic now that school's begun. My daughter has girl scouts right after school and my son has hockey practice at 6:40 (an hour's drive from us). Plus, to top it off I started my first day of work.
Normally, we get my daughter from girl scouts, eat a quick dinner before dropping her off at my parents and heading to the rink. Also, we typically carpool on Monday's with a friend.
This week because I was so tired after my first day of work I decided to stay home to relax, spend time with my daughter and plan things out for the week ahead. My husband decided he was just going to take Goalieboy by himself and skip carpooling. Everything seemed fine, everything went smoothly.
Fifteen, twenty minutes after they left the house my husband called. The car was in a ditch less than 10 minutes from our house. The first thing he told me is, "We're ok but we've been in an accident." I'm grateful that my husband knows me well enough to have started the call with "We're Ok.". I've had too many scary calls from him saying he's been in some kind of accident not prefaced by those words. My mind doesn't compute after "We've been in an accident". Best to tell me the good news up front first.
I just want to let people know a few things. First, slow down! Second, if you miss a turn you can back track. Third, better to be late than dead.
What happened you ask? The driver 2 cars in front of my husband slammed on his breaks to make a last second left hand turn. The road is marked at 55 mph. It's a busy road especially during commute hours. Why there's not a light at this particular spot I'll never know. The road going left is where a few major industries are (warehouses and such) and the town hall. It really needs to be regulated better.
The driver in front of my hubby had to slam on his breaks to avoid the idiot. My husband had to slam on his and swerve to the right. Right into the ditch. Thank goodness the ditch wasn't deep. He swore he felt the car rock and thought it was going to flip. That part had my heart stopping.
The driver of the car in front of him stopped to check if he was ok. He also gave him his business card as a witness. The driver who caused the accident never stopped, never looked back.
I'm so thankful my husband and son are ok. It reaffirms to them....no speeding, no following too closely, no texting, sitting properly (my son) and no distractions. None of these things were occurring at the time of the accident. It could have been so much worse if just one of these things had been going on. I'm thanking my lucky stars.
A few side notes:
To the towing company: Thank you for responding so promptly and getting the car out of the ditch.
To the officer who came along: While we are grateful you stopped to check and hang out until the car was pulled out, we don't appreciate you commenting several times about my husband's sniffling and runny nose. It's allergy season and he is highly allergic to everything around us all year long. Next time, just demand a drug test or shut up. You made yourself look like an ass. Also, why didn't you take the contact information for our witness? That's mind boggling.
To the insurance company: You're seriously going to tell us if there's over $2000 worth of damage our rates our going to go up? We didn't cause the accident. This is beyond ridiculous and we'll be starting to shop for a better carrier.
However, thinking positively and looking on the bright side, I am thankful no one was physically hurt. Things can change tragically in the blink of an eye. I'm so glad my life and the lives of those I love dearly are unscathed.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Here's to a Good Year
The school year has started here with a few minor speed bumps. Just a week and a half before school started Irene hit. Lots of flooding throughout the area. The rain would clear up for a day or two just to come back with a vengeance. School started the way it had ended in June...on a humid, dreary day. A bit disappointing but we met it straight on with positive determination. Two days later, schools around the area were closed due to flooding. It seems Mother Nature has had her panties in a bit of a twist. The weather will be cool one moment, hot and humid the next, followed by rain. Sigh. I just want fall to be cool and crisp without the heat and humidity. We've gotten a tease of it but it's left me begging for more.
Weather news aside, the school year has gone really well so far. I'm almost afraid I'm going to jinx it by feeling so positive. Goalieboy has been right in sync with things with little or no complaint. That's a major accomplishment here. He's very opinionated and full of boy drama. So far, most of it hasn't been over the top.
I thought we would have some issues with him wearing his new (purple!) hearing aids to school but amazingly that has been a non issue. He seems more comfortable and confident with them. I think the timing was right getting them right after school was over in June. He was always self conscience of his old one (he only had a single loaner one for three months). I think he's really embraced them. They are really helping him in so many ways. I'm amazed that I rarely have to remind him in the mornings to put them on. The only issues we seem to have is the tug of war after he's taken them off because he's been playing outside. At that point, I think he's just done with them for the day. I think what works best for us is just keeping a routine then he knows what's expected.
School is going (dare I say) great so far. He likes most of his classmates and his teachers. He's in a co-teaching model classroom. Before this year it was called a collaborative class. For those unfamiliar with this (these didn't exist when I was in school) concept: It's a classroom with two teachers. One is regular ed(ucation) and the other is special ed. The class they teach is a mix of regular kids and kids with IEP (Individual Education Plans). Most of the IEP children have always been in the general ed setting while a few are graduated into it from the special education classroom. It's great in theory and potentially fantastic with the right mix of teachers and kids.
Third grade is the first grade it is offered to children in our school if there are enough students (and teachers) to make up a class. It didn't go that well for us last year. The class was big (26 students) and chaotic. The teachers didn't teach as well together as I had heard they had done in years past. Nothing seemed to mesh and it was frustrating for everyone. It just didn't work and Goalieboy suffered from it.
This year seems to be a different case. As I observed the two teachers during last weeks open house I was very impressed. They appear to work well together and have good chemistry.
I'm excited to say, Goalieboy seems engaged in class. I can ask him several hours after pickup about his day and he can give me clear details. Last year, it was mainly the dreaded, "I don't remember." response. Last night, during dinner, he regaled me about what he was learning in social studies. He was giving me names of states, oceans and lakes. His teachers are reaching him! What a wonderful thing. I'm so excited!
His teachers seem to really care about their students. Today I emailed them after school (which I've never done before) because Goalieboy had a meltdown over a math worksheet. He knew how to do the work and didn't get why he needed to show it a certain way. I put out the fire the best I could by telling him to do it his way and I would ask the teachers about it. One of his teachers called me at 6 pm because she didn't want him upset over it. She said she read the words homework and meltdown and felt she had to call me right away. She didn't want him upset over this. We cleared up the issue (which was nothing major, which I figured). We also discussed a few things such as, sometimes he will take a quiz/do a worksheet and not fully comprehend what a question is asking. He'll get it partly wrong because he didn't answer it completely. When I reviewed a few papers with him he instantly knew what the correct answers were. So, his one teacher will be discussing this with the Special Ed teacher to see what we can do to make sure he is fully understanding what the question is asking. I'm in awe. I think we're on the same page. It's frustrating for him to get something wrong that he knows but is not answering it right because he doesn't understand the question. Hopefully we can come up with a workable solution.
We've agreed to set up a face to face meeting in a few weeks and review how he's doing. I have a good feeling about this year. I think it has potential to be a year where he progresses to where he needs to be. I'm excited and filled with hope.
Weather news aside, the school year has gone really well so far. I'm almost afraid I'm going to jinx it by feeling so positive. Goalieboy has been right in sync with things with little or no complaint. That's a major accomplishment here. He's very opinionated and full of boy drama. So far, most of it hasn't been over the top.
I thought we would have some issues with him wearing his new (purple!) hearing aids to school but amazingly that has been a non issue. He seems more comfortable and confident with them. I think the timing was right getting them right after school was over in June. He was always self conscience of his old one (he only had a single loaner one for three months). I think he's really embraced them. They are really helping him in so many ways. I'm amazed that I rarely have to remind him in the mornings to put them on. The only issues we seem to have is the tug of war after he's taken them off because he's been playing outside. At that point, I think he's just done with them for the day. I think what works best for us is just keeping a routine then he knows what's expected.
School is going (dare I say) great so far. He likes most of his classmates and his teachers. He's in a co-teaching model classroom. Before this year it was called a collaborative class. For those unfamiliar with this (these didn't exist when I was in school) concept: It's a classroom with two teachers. One is regular ed(ucation) and the other is special ed. The class they teach is a mix of regular kids and kids with IEP (Individual Education Plans). Most of the IEP children have always been in the general ed setting while a few are graduated into it from the special education classroom. It's great in theory and potentially fantastic with the right mix of teachers and kids.
Third grade is the first grade it is offered to children in our school if there are enough students (and teachers) to make up a class. It didn't go that well for us last year. The class was big (26 students) and chaotic. The teachers didn't teach as well together as I had heard they had done in years past. Nothing seemed to mesh and it was frustrating for everyone. It just didn't work and Goalieboy suffered from it.
This year seems to be a different case. As I observed the two teachers during last weeks open house I was very impressed. They appear to work well together and have good chemistry.
I'm excited to say, Goalieboy seems engaged in class. I can ask him several hours after pickup about his day and he can give me clear details. Last year, it was mainly the dreaded, "I don't remember." response. Last night, during dinner, he regaled me about what he was learning in social studies. He was giving me names of states, oceans and lakes. His teachers are reaching him! What a wonderful thing. I'm so excited!
His teachers seem to really care about their students. Today I emailed them after school (which I've never done before) because Goalieboy had a meltdown over a math worksheet. He knew how to do the work and didn't get why he needed to show it a certain way. I put out the fire the best I could by telling him to do it his way and I would ask the teachers about it. One of his teachers called me at 6 pm because she didn't want him upset over it. She said she read the words homework and meltdown and felt she had to call me right away. She didn't want him upset over this. We cleared up the issue (which was nothing major, which I figured). We also discussed a few things such as, sometimes he will take a quiz/do a worksheet and not fully comprehend what a question is asking. He'll get it partly wrong because he didn't answer it completely. When I reviewed a few papers with him he instantly knew what the correct answers were. So, his one teacher will be discussing this with the Special Ed teacher to see what we can do to make sure he is fully understanding what the question is asking. I'm in awe. I think we're on the same page. It's frustrating for him to get something wrong that he knows but is not answering it right because he doesn't understand the question. Hopefully we can come up with a workable solution.
We've agreed to set up a face to face meeting in a few weeks and review how he's doing. I have a good feeling about this year. I think it has potential to be a year where he progresses to where he needs to be. I'm excited and filled with hope.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)