Heartbreaking

N1's boys regularly jump over the fence to fetch errant footballs. I am somewhat suspicious that they also go through my shed and play on the swings as they seem to have a working knowledge of the swings, my punching bag and bag mitts. This is fine as long as they don't hurt themselves and sue me.

Tonight the Noodle and I played soccer with them and then showed them the new treadmill (which we've also had the repairman out for today - I was rightly suspicious of a product bearing a badge inscribed 'designed by U.S.A.'). I asked the oldest boy what happened to their side fence.

He replied. 'Mum was driving to watch me play soccer, but she couldn't find it, so she got really drunk and then she crashed into some stuff, then she came here and crashed into the fence and the police came and took her away in handcuffs.'

I felt terrible that I'd asked him, and that he'd answered so honestly. We'd heard the bang on the night of the accident and heard a woman sobbing. Knickers suspected it was their mum, who lives there periodically, so I should have been a bit more sensitive and asked N1. He is always happy to give up the goss.

I spoke to him later and he cheerily confirmed his son's story. She blew over .2 and had just got her license back from a previous DUI conviction. She apparently damaged every panel of her new merc, crashing into various parked cars and fences around the neighbourhood.

I don't want to know what sort of effect that will have on their boys, or all the other children around the country in similar circumstances.