That time my daughter thought I abandoned her

So, in order to "save" some money (yeah, that implies we actually have something left to save, but I use it in the sense of we don't have any money to spend in the first place!) we didn't really get Lili much for Christmas except blankets from Santa for her bunk bed that she refuses to sleep in. You tried, Santa, but she still doesn't want to sleep there.

Anyway, she really wanted a doll's salon chair to brush her doll's hair. Low and behold, as we're driving home last night I see one on the side of the road along with a salon table! "LILI!" I screamed, stopping the car and hopping out the door. I was outside for about 45 seconds deciding what treasures to put in the van (lots of toys on the curb- poor little girl must have been forced to dump some to make room for her new X-mas toys), when I opened the door and found Lili sobbing. "MAMA! Why you leave me?!?!" 

Well, I'd like to teach Lili about being resourceful and not ashamed to be curb-toy-collectors, but I guess I have to remember first to tell her why I'm suddenly exiting a running car in the dark, rainy night. At least I had a toy to make her stop crying.

Mom lesson 8,675 this year. Thank god a new year is starting- I might get some things right ;)

Here's a picture of happy Lili... and her cousins :)