Lessons from car thievery

It was such a nice Sunday morning.  I was cuddling on the couch with Marley, nursing a slight hangover after a very fun girls-night-out the evening before.   And then my phone rang.  It was my husband. "Nikki...someone stole my truck." Yeah right.  The ol' hubby has been bothering me FOR WEEKS to buy him a motorcycle.  My first instinct was that he was just SAYING his truck was gone, so he could buy the Harley.   That line of thinking lasted about half a second when he began insisting his truck was really gone! "What?!?"   I just couldn't believe it!!  I KNOW people have their cars stolen every day.  It has just never happened to me.  And until something DOES happen to you, you don't think it ever will. So with my 3 year old daughter's eyes upon me,  I pace around the house, literally flabbergasted. "I can't believe someone stole that PIECE!"   (Full disclosure: It is a 1987 Toyota Landcruiser.  Not the sexiest thing, but my husband loved it.  And he would always do that head nod/wave thing in traffic when one guy sees another guy in a similar vehicle.  I think you need a pair between your legs to understand) So after talking myself into a frenzy, I did what any sane woman would do when her husband's car is stolen.  I packed up the kids and went looking for it! Ok, I was actually already planning to go to Costco, but there are a lot of car "repair" places (aka: chop shops) in the area, so I figured I'd keep an eye out.  As I was walking through Costco, I actually calmed down.  (That will happen to you when you watch a bunch of people wait in line for a thumbnail size piece of hot dog.  It's a HOT DOG people!!!  I actually felt sane again when I explained to Marley why we WOULDN'T be waiting in that line. Answer: we have hot dogs at home) So as we were walking back to my car, Marley looked at me with those big, brown eyes and asked if the "bad guys" who stole daddy's truck would be coming to OUR house.   Suddenly, I got it. I looked at her and realized I could actually use this as a teaching moment. I told her she needed to understand two things. Number one: She should NEVER, EVER take things that don't belong to her.  It is mean and not right.  And if she finds something that doesn't belong to her, she should try and find the rightful owner. Number two: Yes, bad things happen.  But there are so many more good people in this world than bad people.  It sucks when you encounter these bad people, but there is a REASON why daddy's car was stolen.  And I told my daughter that I truly believe it will work out in our favor in the end. Do I have any idea WHY our truck was stolen? No.  But maybe it was so I could teach my daughter two very important lessons. Plus, the Harley talk has finally stopped.