Two daughters, three transmissions, two minor wrecks, one speeding ticket. I bet the economists who calculate the cost of child-rearing never consider these factors.

≡ Click to see image ≡

≡ Click to see image ≡

At least no airbag deployment, but bumpers can get $$$$$.

oh, shoot! glad your son's OK.

The bumper is okay, it went under the SUV. I'm looking at new radiator, radiator support, AC condenser, new headlights, new hood. Maybe about $500 in parts if I'm lucky. Being a Tracer (Mercury version of the Escort), I should be able to find parts at salvage yards locally (although the functional bits like the radiator I'll probably buy new).

h, shoot! glad your son's OK.

Don't assume he's okay until after Mrs. Doohickie calms down. She's really pissed right now.

good point.

(One of those was my very first accident too!)

Your children seem to get into an awful lot of accidents. Perhaps bus passes are in order? :-P

Meh. It's a normal part of growing up I guess.

We gave my son a Chevy Prism when he was 17 and he managed to wreck it three times in six months, the last time totalling it. He's bought he own cars after that.

Sounds like my older boy.

Well I poked around under the hood and took a bunch of stuff out, and it looks like it needs a new header plate (the plastic piece that the headlights attach to), new headlights, new radiator, new fan shroud, new AC condenser and new radiator hoses. The radiator support was bent back to the engine but I pulled it forward again. It's not perfectly straight but once I get the other parts out of there I think I'll be able to straighten it up better.

I'm gonna try just replacing the radiator to start and make sure the car still runs okay, then I'll do the rest of the cosmetic stuff.

See, this is how I don't get mad: Rather than dwelling on the mistake he made, I concentrate on the project of getting the car running again. It channels the negative energy into something positive.

Heh, I remember checking notes in college. A surprising number of my classmates had wrecked a car their first day or week on the road.

Oof. Rough, doohickie. I'm slightly terrified whenever I drive because it's been five years and I haven't so much as scratched another person's car. It's gotta happen, someday... :/

I'm sorry to hear this. So your son will help you with the repairs, right? :)

I was also going to suggest a fun day of father-son car repairs...

Rear-ending someone in the rain was also my first accident, about three months after I got my license. I've been pretty good at not following other cars too closely since then, which is a plus.

I'm glad your son's all right, Doohickie.

As someone who's been in my fair share of car accidents (and a few car/bike ones), I can confidently say that's the most important part.

Be sure to have him help you with the repairs, too--some of my most cherished childhood memories, and some of the most useful things my father ever taught me, have come as the result of some stupid-ass thing I did.

Unfortunately, he'll be away on a mission trip this week when I plan on doing the repairs.