I woke this morning after having a particularly crappy day yesterday to soon realize the real crap had not even happened yet. My eight year old went outside this morning to check for a paper she couldn’t find in her bookbag. I gave her the keys and, silly me, told her to make sure she locked the car back when she came in.

I heard her come into the house and then bound up the steps two at a time.

“Mama, someone was in our car. The glove box is open and there are papers everywhere.”

“What???? Is there a window busted? I know I locked it last night. I know I did. Because the footballs are in th…. the footballs. Are the footballs still there?”

“No, mama” she said slowly and sadly. “The footballs are gone.”

I half brushed my hair back and grabbed a pair of shoes and made my way outside. I unlocked and relocked the doors about a dozen times. Then I walked around the car trying each door. Low and behold, the back right passenger door came open, even with the lock down. My heart just sank. Hot tears started streaming.

I stopped yesterday at Kattus (the only team sports store up this way) and picked up two youth footballs our league president generously bought for us to have at football camp tonight.

And now they were gone.

I started to take them in the house last night when returning home from work, but knew as soon as I did, I would walk off and forget them today and have to make an extra trip home to get them to camp by 6PM.

And now they were gone.

Someone stealing from you is bad enough. I felt angry and hurt and confused and alot like yelling obscenities at anyone walking down the street. (Instead I just cried like a big ole baby) But they weren’t stealing from me, they were stealing from 30 little boys whose parents can barely afford clothes for them. 

Now, I am going to have to go back to Kattus on my lunchbreak and buy two footballs with money I don’t really have. But what else can I do?

And the boyfriend doesn’t even know yet. I left a message for him this morning, but I am sure he is still asleep. He is going to be just thrilled. And he is a man, so somehow this will be all my fault. He is going to be so irritated.

I am sitting at work and I am not going to be worth a hill of beans today. I can’t even think straight.

What is wrong with people? Why would someone get into someone else’s car and steal what are clearly youth footballs. Stealing from a child just makes me sick to my stomach.

And now I am going to be more broke than I already was, which to me, is also stealing from my own children.

I don’t even know how much a stinkin football costs.  I am so screwed.

At least it’s not Monday.