A while ago we watched a YouTube video about how to escape your car if you happen to drive into a body of water accidentally.
This video freaked Benjamin out.
Honestly, I can't blame him since this has been a big fear of mine for...ever.
Growing up by the coast we often had to cross bridges or drive beside water to get where we needed to go and I always wondered what would happen if we ever happened to fall over the edge.
As I got older I began to hear stories of people whose vehicles went off the road and into the river or the reservoir or what have you.
My friend's mom once accidentally "parked" her car in the pond in front of their house. I'm not sure she was in it at the time. I think she forgot to put the parking break on and it rolled in or something. Anyway, my friend's dad made a sign to put up by the pond that said, "Here lies Kim's car." Or something like that...
Anyway, the thought is slightly terrifying and though this video showed you "exactly" what to do, knowing "exactly" what to do is sometimes worse than not knowing.
Like, on a good day it takes me five minutes to get all the kids out of the car. And that's without water gushing through the windows...
So, basically, you have 30 seconds to a minute to vacate your car before it sinks to the bottom with you inside it. You're supposed to open your window, climb out, and swim to shore. Easy, peasy...until you factor in a handful of children.
In that case you're supposed to unbuckle the oldest child first and help them out the window, leaving the littlest, most helpless ones for last. I guess this makes sense since all my kids can basically swim...except for Zoë. So if I can get them all out of the car they can start heading for shore (or maybe by this point in time bystanders are helping out (we can hope)).
Rachel was like, "So, you unbuckle me first?"
I was like, "No way! You can unbuckle yourself and get going. Or unbuckle yourself and unbuckle Benjamin and get going."
Let's just hope it's something we never have to experience.
Anyway, yesterday Benjamin kept asking Andrew if he was going to drive the car into the ocean. Andrew kept telling him no but Benjamin kept asking so eventually Andrew said, "Yes. I'm driving straight into the ocean."
"NO!" Benjamin wailed. "Don't! Please don't, Dad!"
"Why not?"
"I really don't want to go into the ocean in our car!"
"Good, because I really don't either. I'd have to buy a new car and I don't want to do that."
"Yeah. Because that would take like one hundred of your monies!"
"Exactly."
Even with that reassurance Benjamin kept asking about it every time he saw water.
"You're not going to drive into that water, are you?" he asked when we went over the bridge of the Cape Fear inlet.
"We're right on top of it," Andrew said.
"Noooo! Please no!" Benjamin said.
"We're on a bridge," Andrew pointed out.
"Okay, phew!" Benjamin said.
Later when we pulled up to the marina to check into our cabin, Benjamin freaked out again. It probably didn't help that the road (loading ramp) led straight into the water.
"Don't drive into the water, Dad! Please don't! Don't! Don't!"
"I'm going to do it," Andrew teased.
"No! Dad! No!"
"That's where the road leads..."
"No, Dad, please don't! Don't do it! I don't want to take our car into the water!"
There was a big puddle in the parking lot right by the loading ramp, so Andrew chose to drive right through it.
"Here we go," Andrew said as the tires hit he puddle and spun water up all around us.
"NOOOOO!" Benjamin wailed.
It's almost too easy to tease this boy.
"Why is he so afraid of driving into the water, anyway?" Andrew asked.
"Well..." I said, and then told Andrew about the video we'd seen.
"So he's legitimately terrified of driving into the water?"
"Basically."
Do you think that has stopped Andrew from teasing him about it? Not in the least. The poor boy is going to be scarred for life.
This video freaked Benjamin out.
Honestly, I can't blame him since this has been a big fear of mine for...ever.
Growing up by the coast we often had to cross bridges or drive beside water to get where we needed to go and I always wondered what would happen if we ever happened to fall over the edge.
As I got older I began to hear stories of people whose vehicles went off the road and into the river or the reservoir or what have you.
My friend's mom once accidentally "parked" her car in the pond in front of their house. I'm not sure she was in it at the time. I think she forgot to put the parking break on and it rolled in or something. Anyway, my friend's dad made a sign to put up by the pond that said, "Here lies Kim's car." Or something like that...
Anyway, the thought is slightly terrifying and though this video showed you "exactly" what to do, knowing "exactly" what to do is sometimes worse than not knowing.
Like, on a good day it takes me five minutes to get all the kids out of the car. And that's without water gushing through the windows...
So, basically, you have 30 seconds to a minute to vacate your car before it sinks to the bottom with you inside it. You're supposed to open your window, climb out, and swim to shore. Easy, peasy...until you factor in a handful of children.
In that case you're supposed to unbuckle the oldest child first and help them out the window, leaving the littlest, most helpless ones for last. I guess this makes sense since all my kids can basically swim...except for Zoë. So if I can get them all out of the car they can start heading for shore (or maybe by this point in time bystanders are helping out (we can hope)).
Rachel was like, "So, you unbuckle me first?"
I was like, "No way! You can unbuckle yourself and get going. Or unbuckle yourself and unbuckle Benjamin and get going."
Let's just hope it's something we never have to experience.
Anyway, yesterday Benjamin kept asking Andrew if he was going to drive the car into the ocean. Andrew kept telling him no but Benjamin kept asking so eventually Andrew said, "Yes. I'm driving straight into the ocean."
"NO!" Benjamin wailed. "Don't! Please don't, Dad!"
"Why not?"
"I really don't want to go into the ocean in our car!"
"Good, because I really don't either. I'd have to buy a new car and I don't want to do that."
"Yeah. Because that would take like one hundred of your monies!"
"Exactly."
Even with that reassurance Benjamin kept asking about it every time he saw water.
"You're not going to drive into that water, are you?" he asked when we went over the bridge of the Cape Fear inlet.
"We're right on top of it," Andrew said.
"Noooo! Please no!" Benjamin said.
"We're on a bridge," Andrew pointed out.
"Okay, phew!" Benjamin said.
Later when we pulled up to the marina to check into our cabin, Benjamin freaked out again. It probably didn't help that the road (loading ramp) led straight into the water.
"Don't drive into the water, Dad! Please don't! Don't! Don't!"
"I'm going to do it," Andrew teased.
"No! Dad! No!"
"That's where the road leads..."
"No, Dad, please don't! Don't do it! I don't want to take our car into the water!"
There was a big puddle in the parking lot right by the loading ramp, so Andrew chose to drive right through it.
"Here we go," Andrew said as the tires hit he puddle and spun water up all around us.
"NOOOOO!" Benjamin wailed.
It's almost too easy to tease this boy.
"Why is he so afraid of driving into the water, anyway?" Andrew asked.
"Well..." I said, and then told Andrew about the video we'd seen.
"So he's legitimately terrified of driving into the water?"
"Basically."
Do you think that has stopped Andrew from teasing him about it? Not in the least. The poor boy is going to be scarred for life.
Like father, like son. Because didn't Reid do that to Andrew with something like, what, corn? chicken?
ReplyDeleteAlso, bridge over Cape FEAR Inlet. Perfect name for that bridge at that moment. And also, some of your bridges over there freaked me out entirely! That one kind of steep one...yikes!