Is it something you’ve ever thought about? You can practice as many safe driving practices as you want, but you can’t control road conditions or other drivers, which, sadly, is the worst part here. So, when a car accident does happen, well, it can leave a weird feeling behind, can’t it? Not just you, but the whole family. Even when everybody’s home, everybody’s technically alright, and the worst of the panic has passed, things can still feel a bit off.
For example, maybe the school run feels different, or the usual route to the shops feels different. Sometimes, even getting into the car can feel like one of those small things that just somehow no longer feel all that small. In general, even mortality just comes into question for you and your kids; it just hits so hard. Somehow, car accidents get normalised, so normalised to the point that you’re not supposed to be traumatised and instead you’re supposed to pick yourself off, dust yourself off, and just “go back to normal”.
But it takes a while, for you, for the kids, your spouse, but how can you all get back to feeling normal though?
Go ahead and let things feel a bit wobbly for a while
And this is probably the bit parents need to hear most. Everybody doesn’t have to be “fine” straight away. Like a child might seem completely okay at first, then get clingy two days later. Or maybe another one might go quiet. Maybe your spouse appears fine, but at the same time, they’re tense. Well, the body and the brain just have a lot of catching up to do here.
Usually, people can get very focused on visible injuries and forget that feeling shaken still counts for something. So if the mood’s a bit uneven for a while, if someone’s a bit snappier, clingier, quieter, or more emotional than usual, and it’s fine, it just takes some time to adjust and sync in what happened.
Sort out the practical stuff now
While yes, mentally and physically you need to recover, as unfortunate as it is, some other things still need to be prioritized at the same time, though. So, the longer the loose ends hang around, the longer the accident stays in the middle of family life like it owns the place, and these can pile up, get more expensive, it’s just a whole can of worms you just don’t want here.
For example, if your car is a bit damaged, well, you need to take it to the car body shop ASAP, if you have forms or need to report anything to the insurnace company, technically the same day as the accident it should have been done (and if you haven’t gotten to it yet then do it ASAP), same for going to a doctor, seeing a solicitor, ect, but yes, whatever practical stuff needs to be done, do it now. You can’t have things lingering, and the faster these are done, the faster this whole chapter can be closed.
Try and bring back the boring normal stuff on purpose
It takes time, but slowly normal life comes back, like breakfast feels normal again, bedtime feels normal again for kids, clinginess slowly stops; these do come back. But normalcy, and just recovery in general, both take a lot of time and ideally just shouldn’t be rushed. But going back to routines does a lot, especially for kids; it’s a way to let them know that things will be alright.
