i knew there had to be a reason!

i love being a mom to 6 children! being a mom is the job i believe God has created for me, and most days i really enjoy it. there are some days, though, that i think we had about 3 1/2 too many children. and then there are other days that i call Dave at work, and say "remind me- why is it that we homeschool, anyway? what's wrong with sending the children away? to school? for 7 hours a day? so i can drink a cup of coffee all the way through? hot? we know lots of families who sent their kids to public school and they turned out just fine!" but homeschooling is another job that i believe God would have us do. it's been really good for our family. and though i like talking about homeschooling and curriculum as much as the next mother, that's not what I'm writing about today.

yesterday i stopped at CVS for a sale item, just a quick stop, really. but as i was backing out of my parking spot, i backed into another person who was simultaneously backing out of theirs. CRASH! oh brother! we got out to survey the damage, and it was minimal. neither of us was hurt, and there were just a few scratches on the vehicles. we decided to exchange names and phone numbers. he said don't worry about it, we'll just take care of it. i felt the same way, so off we went.

well, you can guess where this is going. after a flurry of phone calls from insurance agents, and adjusters, it's apparent that he's changed his mind. the insurance companies will split all costs 50/50, since (as dave said- we both didn't pay attention to what the sam hill we were doing!) it's equally both our faults.

today nationwide called, and the insurance lady wanted to talk to me. no problem. i answered a few questions, and then she dropped the bomb. she wanted me to take my van to have an estimate done on the repair cost. (and remember, i'm already doing the same thing for my insurance company.)

i politely told her that i would not have time to do that. she proceeded to tell me that the garage was only a few miles away. i firmly, and once more politely said, no ma'am, i really can't do that, even if the garage is only 8 miles away. she started to get a little huffy with me, giving me all sorts of reasons that i should do this for them.

then i pulled out my trump card. ma'am, i (politely) said, we are in the middle of MAJOR home renovations, i have 6 children, and we homeschool. i am already taking my van for an estimate, and i don't possibly have time to run all over creation for another estimate with your garage. you'll just have to send your adjuster here.

there was a moment of (stunned?) silence. then she said, yes, ma'am, we'll be in touch and send an adjuster to your house. after confirming my address, she said goodbye.

well! there have to be some perks for having such a boatload of kids! and today we got to experience just one of them! hooray for large families!