Sunday, June 22, 2008

Pride: The Root of Many At Home Accidents


Last week I posted about the morning the kids and I washed the cars.

What I didn't post about was how I backed the mini-van into the garage and accidentally hit the side of the house with the passenger rear view mirror, and took out a chunk of stucco.

Here's what happened...

I had backed the car out of the garage, and we began to wash. We washed the drivers side, but the hose in the front yard is kinda short, so I had to pull the car out of the drive, turn it around, and back into the driveway to wash and rinse the passenger side. 

While washing the back end of the van, The Boy noticed the chipped paint and cracked passenger taillight.  He said, "Mom! What did you do?"

To which I replied, "I did not do that, your Dad did." 

"Really?" he says. As if it seemed impossible that his Dad could do such a thing.

"Yes." I say. "Don't you remember taking that camping trip to Tyler State Park when we lived in TX? When your Dad backed up in to the campground and took out a small tree?"

Our mini-van was brand new at the time, and I was VERY grateful that I hadn't been the one to put the first "ding" in it. 

Of course he didn't remember, he was only 5 years old.

"So, for the record," I say, "Your Dad did that. Not me."

That's when we finished washing the van and The Girl suggests washing The Misters car as well.

"Great Idea!" I say, and instruct the kids to stay out of my way while I back the van into the garage so to make room for The Misters car on the driveway.

I was concerned about the kids moving from the spot I had told them to stay, so I was keeping my eye on them, instead of the fact that I was about to plow through the wall of the garage.

Until i heard a huge CCCRRRUUNNNCHHHHH!!!!! sound. I looked to my right and the mirror was all bent backwards and folded over on one edge. 

I do believe that it was at this point when a bad word came out of mouth. 

But I won't repeat it here. 

I put the car in drive and hoped against hope that it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded.

The mirror, with a bit of pink stucco scratches, was none the worse for the wear. 

The house? Well, let's just say that The Mister, who had just crossed the last Household Maintenance Chore off his list, has something new and exciting to learn: Stucco Patching.


When I got out of the car The Boy says, "What did you hit?"

"The house." I say with a resigned and quiet tone.

"Wow! That's much worse than a tree, isn't it?"

Yeah, well, it just might be.


First pride, then the crash— 
   the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.
Proverbs 16:18 (The Message)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kellie! I love your blog! And love the scripture! I love coffee too! My husband is from Puerto Rico and his aunt sends alot of Cafe Rico and Crema! Maybe we can exchange our favorite coffees one day! God bless!

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

Ouch! Your poor house. Your poor van. And...your poor pride. I'm sorry that had to happen. :(

Unknown said...

I once scraped the entire drivers' side of my car down a telephone pole! It had that black tarry stuff on it (griseofulvin?) that took some serious scrubbing to remove. And did I mention that I completely knoecled off my side mirror in the process?

Yeah. That was a good day! :-)

I'm glad your damage wasn't worse!

Thanks for visiting me - I like your blog!

Michele said...

Hi Kellie. Thanks for your sweet comment. I clicked over and started reading your blog and, girl, not only do we have running in common, but I am a coffee-lover also and I am an early to bed, early to rise kind-of girl too! I'm so sorry about your mini-van. That totally stinks when you get it all clean and then have an oops like that! I also read your blog post about you missing your husband and how since your children have gotten older and more self-sufficient you miss your friend. I give you a high five on that one!!! My hubby just recently started running with me since our kids are more self-sufficient (youngest one is almost 5). It is just so nice to share another part of life with him. I look forward to reading more of your posts. God Bless!

Lara said...

OUCH

Lisa said...

OH NO!!

Michelle@Life with Three said...

LOL! I always get the worst feeling in my stomach when I hear a sound like that. You're kind of afraid to look and see what the result was. I'm glad yours turned out to be not so bad. And, besides, your husband would have been so bored if he didn't have any more home improvement projects, right? :)

Jackie said...

Oh no....I am always scared I'll do this exact thing. We have such a small garage that it takes a HUGE amount of concentration just to get our vehicle in and out without scraping something. So I feel your pain. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, sounds like the blow to your ego was actually worse than the blow to the house. My mom still blames me for the time she backed out of the driveway and knocked her side mirror completely off her minivan when she hit a tree next to our driveway. Evidently I was jingling a jingle bell necklace and the sound drove her over the edge of sanity (or at least the edge of our driveway).