Vacation and theft
It's vacation which means we are super busy. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done, and there's never enough time to sleep in. But here it is 1:36 in the morning our time and I can't sleep. Why you might ask? Well for starters Reggie and M are camping on a mountain so he's not here which means I sleep poorly, L has a fever which means she sleeps poorly and H is having a slumber party in my bed with me. But that's not the real reason I can't sleep. The real reason is that I was robbed today.
L had been fussing all day and H had talked my ear numb and I needed out of the house so I decided to take the girls on a jeep ride to McDonald's. So I loaded the diaper bag with L's blankie (the one from Tia Laura) and her paci in case she was sad and of course my wallet, my keys were clipped to the outside with a caribener like always and thankfully my cell was in my pocket. Off we went. We made it to McD and ordered our food. I accidentally upsized everything (normally I just upsize the drink because our upsize is your small) which of course made me feel guilty because first of all that's foolishness with our money and second of all I shouldn't and can't eat all that food and H and L certainly couldn't help me one bit.
I had L in the sling so I made the fateful decision to put the diaper bag on the floor between my feet. H had her feet on top and mine were pinning it. Since it was a special night for us I decided that H could get ice cream and when I leaned down to get the bag I realized it was gone. Foolish of me to leave it on the floor even if it was between my feet because obviously whoever crawled in there took it without me realizing or anyone else noticing. But there we were, no money to get home and no keys to let us in once we got there, and a husband an hour away on the mountain.
Thankfully, I had my cell phone. I called Reggie and cried. A few helpful McD employees ran down the street but they found nothing, the manager came out and apologized but of course that can't help me get home. So I called another friend and hopped in a cab with a scared Harmony, a feverish Lillian and a crying mom. The friend met me at school with the money to pay the taxi driver and the guard gave me keys to where our spare keys are kept. And we walked home. Me trying not to cry, Lil snuggled up feeling comforted I suppose by the movement and H telling me all the way that my bag isn't as important as the kids, that I always wanted to be a mom so my kids must be the most important thing.
Once we get in the gate, we padlock the gate, and deadbolt the house and all of us are in my bedroom locked in. And I'm feeling so angry. Feeling so angry that I've been taken advantage of in this way. But while I'm sitting at the computer feeling nothing but anger and hurt I get a text. It was in Tagalog so I couldn't understand it but through a friend we discovered that a man had found my bag and would give it back to me if I could come get it. I'm so thankful for this couple who so graciously went out of their way to go get the bag for me and deliver it to my house.
And what did I find inside? Everything except my wallet and money. All my receipts, all my cards, my driver's license etc were meticulously separated from the cash and put kindly in a side pocket. I literally lost nothing except my cheap wallet and my cash. Harmony insists that money is super important and that it's what keeps us healthy (cause we need it to buy groceries that keeps us healthy) but she's wrong. Lillian is sleeping snuggled up with her blankie and I don't have to renew my driver's license. I did cancel our credit card even though the card itself was returned to me and we will change the locks on our house tomorrow just to be safe.
But although I find myself thankful for this young man's generosity, and the generosity of friends I am deeply saddened by those that steal for a living. It's amazing how much value we place on things. I look back over the contents of the bag and my house and think of how much it represents financially speaking. But Harmony is right. It's not about the stuff, I did always want to be a mom and my family is the most important thing. And my bag was stolen, not my child and yes we lost some money and that will most certainly make things a little bit tighter than they normally are, but I have my family and some of them are locked in this bedroom breathing beside me and I am thankful!
L had been fussing all day and H had talked my ear numb and I needed out of the house so I decided to take the girls on a jeep ride to McDonald's. So I loaded the diaper bag with L's blankie (the one from Tia Laura) and her paci in case she was sad and of course my wallet, my keys were clipped to the outside with a caribener like always and thankfully my cell was in my pocket. Off we went. We made it to McD and ordered our food. I accidentally upsized everything (normally I just upsize the drink because our upsize is your small) which of course made me feel guilty because first of all that's foolishness with our money and second of all I shouldn't and can't eat all that food and H and L certainly couldn't help me one bit.
I had L in the sling so I made the fateful decision to put the diaper bag on the floor between my feet. H had her feet on top and mine were pinning it. Since it was a special night for us I decided that H could get ice cream and when I leaned down to get the bag I realized it was gone. Foolish of me to leave it on the floor even if it was between my feet because obviously whoever crawled in there took it without me realizing or anyone else noticing. But there we were, no money to get home and no keys to let us in once we got there, and a husband an hour away on the mountain.
Thankfully, I had my cell phone. I called Reggie and cried. A few helpful McD employees ran down the street but they found nothing, the manager came out and apologized but of course that can't help me get home. So I called another friend and hopped in a cab with a scared Harmony, a feverish Lillian and a crying mom. The friend met me at school with the money to pay the taxi driver and the guard gave me keys to where our spare keys are kept. And we walked home. Me trying not to cry, Lil snuggled up feeling comforted I suppose by the movement and H telling me all the way that my bag isn't as important as the kids, that I always wanted to be a mom so my kids must be the most important thing.
Once we get in the gate, we padlock the gate, and deadbolt the house and all of us are in my bedroom locked in. And I'm feeling so angry. Feeling so angry that I've been taken advantage of in this way. But while I'm sitting at the computer feeling nothing but anger and hurt I get a text. It was in Tagalog so I couldn't understand it but through a friend we discovered that a man had found my bag and would give it back to me if I could come get it. I'm so thankful for this couple who so graciously went out of their way to go get the bag for me and deliver it to my house.
And what did I find inside? Everything except my wallet and money. All my receipts, all my cards, my driver's license etc were meticulously separated from the cash and put kindly in a side pocket. I literally lost nothing except my cheap wallet and my cash. Harmony insists that money is super important and that it's what keeps us healthy (cause we need it to buy groceries that keeps us healthy) but she's wrong. Lillian is sleeping snuggled up with her blankie and I don't have to renew my driver's license. I did cancel our credit card even though the card itself was returned to me and we will change the locks on our house tomorrow just to be safe.
But although I find myself thankful for this young man's generosity, and the generosity of friends I am deeply saddened by those that steal for a living. It's amazing how much value we place on things. I look back over the contents of the bag and my house and think of how much it represents financially speaking. But Harmony is right. It's not about the stuff, I did always want to be a mom and my family is the most important thing. And my bag was stolen, not my child and yes we lost some money and that will most certainly make things a little bit tighter than they normally are, but I have my family and some of them are locked in this bedroom breathing beside me and I am thankful!
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