Thievery

I was violated last week.  Someone walked onto my porch, right up to my front door and walked away with Max's stroller.  I was out of the house for about 3-4 hours.  That stroller had sat on the porch, inconspicuously mind you, for weeks.  Max and I enjoyed regular walks.  He loved climbing into it himself and riding around while I tried to raise my heart rate, we loved listening to music on my phone while we walked to Super Babcia's (his great grandma) house.  We would get ready to go somewhere, anywhere, and he always asked if he could ride in his stroller.  And some asshole (sorry) has taken these little joys away.  I am livid.  It's not about the stroller itself.  Yes, it cost money and that's a shame.  We certainly don't have money to leave on our porch for people to take as they please.  But truthfully, Max will be 3 in March, so how much time did we have left with that stroller anyway? Not enough for us to even consider replacing it right now.  But someone took that decision away from us.
I had my car broken into last year because I (stupidly) left my purse on the front seat and locked the door.  I was devastated.  I felt stupid, robbed on so many levels, angry, sad (I loved that bag!) frustrated at all the work that had to follow to get a new driver's license, new bank accounts, etc.  I was angry that I had photos of Max in my wallet and God knows where they were. My baby's pictures were in a dumpster somewhere or in a puddle being walked on my strangers or wherever.  In the digital age, I didn't lack for more copies.  But the idea that someone saw his little face and continued to rob his mommy with no regard that she might be so in love with her child that she would even want his photos to be safe, well it is reprehensible.
And now someone has stolen FROM my baby.
My little guy has to learn about the bad in this world at way too young of an age.  He has asked where his stroller is and he did so before I had decided how to handle it.  So I was honest with him and decided to use it as a teachable moment.  I left his stroller on the porch where I thought it would be safe.  But someone saw it there and really liked and made a bad choice and took it from us.  He knows it's not nice to take from others, so I was hoping this was relatable.  Thankfully, he wasn't as upset as I thought he might be.  I was still heartbroken to have this conversation with him.  At 2-1/2 years old.
The plot thickens...
On a whim, I decided to check craigslist.com to see if the idiot who stole the stroller was dumb enough to put it up.  Two days after it was taken, the exact same brand, line, and color stroller was listed on there.  However, it was listed by a consignment shop who uses the online classifieds to advertise what they've acquired.  I'd like to think that people from the consignment shop aren't trolling neighborhoods looking for items to sell at their shop.  So I'm pretty sure that whoever took it, sold it to the shop.  The timeline works.  Unfortunately, our stroller has no distinguishing marks that would help me identify it even if I walked into the store.  I am debating if I should call them and ask them when it was brought in.  I don't expect to get it back; like I said, it's not about the stroller itself.
I am trying not to get in my head and second-guess our decision to buy a house here.  Dave keeps saying to change it rather than run.  But what could I have done differently?  Get to know our neighbors to become part of the community?  Done.  Make our house look lived in and that we care about where we live?  Done.  Lock my doors, have motion lights, be aware of my surroundings?  Always.  Not leave my stroller on my porch?  I suppose.  Not the most convenient way to live.  Not leave my house unattended?  Not going to happen.  I won't live in fear.  But I will probably live in frustration for a while.
Two 911 calls in 2 weeks...hopefully this week is quiet.

***UPDATE***
So, I told Dave I saw the stroller on craigslist.  He was less than thrilled, obviously.  On Monday, he was getting fitted for a tux for a college event, and the tux place happened to be next door to the consignment shop selling what was likely our stroller.  He (bravely) went in and found the stroller, which still had my iPod arm band in the console so he knew it was in fact ours.  He spoke to the woman working (the owner) and explained the situation.  Apparently the woman was mortified and very upset that this had happened.  After noting she would take a loss, she told Dave he could take the stroller back.  He asked if she knew who sold it to her; she said she did, but she wasn't comfortable sharing it with him.  Which was fine by me.  She, however, knows who sold it to her (if it's not a fake name and address) and she won't buy anything from him again.  I called the cops to follow up on my report and explain what happened, hoping they would interview her and nab the guy.  (Yeah I just said nab.)  But the lovely officer never returned my call.  Which is really more unfortunate for the consignment shop lady, since she's the one taking a loss.  We got our stroller back.  It doesn't erase the fact that I had to explain to Max that there are bad people in the world and that those bad people may hurt him.  But it did give him a chance to see his Daddy as a hero, which I have a feeling, will be the first of many times.