The Crew Meets the Work Crew

So, one of our water pipes starting leaking earlier this week.  Strange wet patches on the carpets in the master bathroom and the boys' closet floor seemed a bit odd.  After some investigation and some really wet carpets, Claude called in a plumber.

It turned out to be better than we had thought because the source of the leak was just a rotted out copper pipe up in the attic.  No need to cut open walls or any of that mess.  The damage has been kept to a minimum as well.  (Dare I say that there would have been no damage had the pipes been checked sometime in the last 30 years...)

Yesterday the landlord sent over someone to check out the water damage and give a quote on repairs and all.  This morning we are waiting for the work crew to come and pull up carpets and carpet padding and to set up fans to dry everything out.

Needless to say all of this activity is very exciting for our little crew.  They love watching people work and have been especially fascinated by all of the trips to the attic.  But there has been a bit of confusion over what a crew actually is.

Yesterday evening, after Joshua and Hannah had spent much of the day on high alert for the work crew to arrive (they never did), Abby came to me and asked, "Mommy, where is the mommy?"

"What mommy?"

"Well, the mommy for the crew.  The daddy was here but where is the mommy?"

Then it dawned on me.  She thought that a crew was a family.  This work crew must be a family that comes to people's homes and helps fix things up after some water damage.  But only the daddy came.  I'm sure that was perplexing and disappointing to her!  :)

When we started referring to our family as the Chew Crew it was kind of by accident.  It seemed cute and a good way to refer to ourselves on our little blog.  But now we're actually known as the Chew Crew and obviously our kids feel a sense of identity and belonging to that title.  It makes my heart glad.

We don't have it all together.  In fact, we had a milk spill and two tantrums while the property manager and work crew manager were out on our front lawn (the windows were open, our walls are thin, the voice of the screaming one was loud...they heard it all!).  But part of what Claude and I hope for is that our children have a place to belong, to fit in, and a place to feel secure.  I guess the Chew Crew is turning out to be just that.  So much so, that 3-year-old Abby can't conceive of a crew that isn't also a family.