Consequences...

It feels soooo good to be back! I went AWOL as we moved from our little apartment back into my mother-in-law's so that we can save up some money for a house. Not ideal, but you do what you have to do!

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Having moved in with my mother-in-law, we've been there a week and 2 days, has already become eventful. It's not that we don't get along, we get along just fine. But it's the things surrounding us that are chaotic.

This past Saturday, my husband flew out of bed at 2:20 am with such a start that it woke me up in a panic. "There was a car accident! I've got to go see if anyone needs help", is what he told me.

He bolted out the back door, and I went to the front window to see how bad the accident was (we are living on the corner of a relatively busy intersection) and if I needed to call 9-1-1. Only there weren't any cars. So I went to the side windows. Still no cars, still no accident.

My husband HAD to be nuts! I started panicking, maybe he's sleepwalking, maybe he's having a PTSD attack (he's an Iraqi war vet)! I wandered out the back door, still in a sleeping stupor, and started walking down the street toward the smoke, still not seeing my husband. More horrific thoughts started to race through my head, my husband has a hero's spirit, and I could totally see him running into a burning building, or trying to pull someone out of a burning car.



Photo courtesy of AnnieMayhem.com



Once I arrived in front of the nieghbor's house I woke up. A drunk driver had plowed into the house, pushed a car through the attached garage, backed out of the garage (the smoke was from the tires, he was stuck on the garage door), smacked the tree in the front yard, and took off down the street! I couldn't believe it!

Thankfully, the police found the truck, parked at the driver's place of residence, and after denying that he was even home in the first place, he was pulled out of bed and taken to jail.

After thanking God that the homeowner was alright, I started to think about the consequnces of this guy's actions, and how one "mistake", getting drunk and getting behind the wheel, turned into a laundry list of mistakes: DUI, distruction of property, fleeing the scene of an accident, and lying to police.

It became apparent to me that this event was meant to teach me as a parent, that not only do I need to teach my child right from wrong (Don't drink and drive in the first place), but also how to deal with the consequences of his actions if he does make a mistake (Don't run away after you cause an accident). Obviously, these lessons are a long way off for my 18 month old, but that doesn't mean that the lesson can't be applied as he is growing up.

An excellent, light hearted book, that gets kids thinking about consequnces, is What if Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick. It poses the question to kids, what if everyone didn't follow the rules; and goes on to illustrate just what would happen. "Bad" concepts like, litering, bathing, and talking out of turn are all covered. And the story concludes with a "Good" concept--"what if everyone gave a hug". It's a fun book that opens the door to talk about the consequnces of our actions, both good and bad, with our children. Check your local library for a copy, or pick up a copy off Amazon.