Thursday I came home as usually, wrote a shopping list, turned on the oven for lasagna and went to pick up Amanda from her gym. It was a quarter past 5 - and I had to buy some things before picking her up and going home. We were home a quarter past 6 - and it took us some minutes to get out of the car with all the bags. When I came inside I could see some folders lieing on the floor and thought it was kind of weird. Then I saw all Amandas drawing was pulled out of a big box we had in a shelf, and thought that was weird too, as a creepy feeling hit me - This was not done by the cat ... At the same time an extreme cold from the kitchen got to me and I saw the window was open. When I got nearer I saw all the glass from the broken window. I got terrified when I realised we had a burglar - and I didn't know if he was still in the house - upstairs or in the basement. I picked up the phone and called Peter asking him to call the police because at the time I just got so scared, in case the person was still in the house. I took a kitchen knife and my daughter was standing close to me wide open eyes, just staring. The connection to Peter got lost before I was able to tell him why to call the police and I called them - but had to wait several minutes. When I reached them the woman told me they where busy, and I tried explaining to her, that I was home alone with my 8-year old and didn't know if the person was still in the house. They could be at our house within an hour, she said ... Luckikly at that same time Peter came home and I quickly told him about the situation, handed him the knife and he went upstairs. A window upstairs, out to the balcony, was open. But no person to be found. Everything was turned around, pulled out drawers. All my juvels are gone - all the things I inheritated from my grand ma and my mother. Things you cant get back. Also juvels I kept for my daughters, which they where going to have when they grow up. All savings we had lieing for our new kitchen, some of Peters stuff, and - believe it or not - even my 8-year old daughters birth juvels and bamtist juvels and even her toy-juvels with disney on, are gone. They even took some of her hair ribbons!! How LOW is that!!! She was so scared, Amanda. She always asks me in the evenings when going to bed, if a burglar would come, and I always promised her, the house was save! Now what? We waited for the police for 3 hours, in the mess and with an open window. Amanda fell asleep on the sofa, next to us, she was exhausted from crying and shaking. We called the police again and was told they where busy with a fire, and would not be able to come to our house untill midnight or next morning. So we agreed Friday morning would be better - even though it meant all tracks outside, then would be covered in snow. They also allowed us to close the window. We had to step over all the things in the bathroom to brush our teeth, and try not to be affected by all our belongings lieing around. That night we slept so horrible - because we heard noises all the time, we thought. I had to get up at 5.30 in the morning, because it was my last day at my old work, and I promised to bake a cake. I also promise Amanda could help me the evening before, but as you can imagine, that wasn't possible. The police came around 10.30 yesterday morning. All tracks in the snow was gone and they admitted, they were too late. The thief however, cut himself on the window glass, and they took some sambles from that. Then we got a lot of forms to fill with the missing belongings. I also got an appointment with a juvel store who is going to help me value the missing juvels. We also had a woodworker out, putting up some wood in front of the window, untill we can get the window fixed ... Does a burglar even THINK about all the work people have after they decide to rape their house? Do they even THINK about the affect it has on a child? It is not about the value of the juvels, which are missing, but the feeling you lost a family member, again, because these juvels was the last personal things you had as a memory of that person. I am not sure how to explain it - but it feels horrible. Something you where suppose to take good care of and treasure, was just ripped away. And a stranger has been going through your things - your personal drawers and even your childs drawers. I really feel my house was raped. It is so cross-bording - and my house feels strange and unsafe now - compared to before, where I felt nothing could harm us in here. The money and juvels are just 'items' - but it hurts still. What is good is, that the kitten, the chincilla and the bird was unharmed - and my daughter too. What is lucky is, that we did not caught them face to face in the act - and that they where fast enough to get out. I hope they get the fuckers!
I have no idea what to say in this situation. Except that it is unfair when very bad things happen to good people.
I hope _I_ get the fuckers... :nunchaks: But yeah, it does suck. And no, the burglar doesn't give a shit about the mess they make, nor the emotional damage they inflict onto their victims. For me, I can live with the fucker making off with my old iPod and an even older iPAQ (an HP PDA from waaaaay back), but the emotional attachment to jewels that have been in your family is something you cannot easily replace. The police officer asked if they took my iPhone, to which I said no (I had it on me), but I wish they had. He raised his eyebrows and I explained to him that I enabled the anti-thief settings on it, meaning that if it gets stolen, you can go online and look up the approximate location of where it is. Perhaps we ought to buy an old iPhone second-hand and leave it lying around for that purpose. The burglar did find an old iPhone box that my phone came in, and opened it in order to check if it was in there.
I hope you can get over the trauma, and ofc help Amanda get over the trauma (if needed, which i assume from what you wrote) ... it's a pity you were shaken up at the moment but who wouldn't be ... maybe tell her it was unexpected like (for example) when you fall and hurt your knee really bad, blood all over the place (if that is something she had happen), and because of the surprise you cry or act a bit out of the ordinary, bit of a scare when you bleed at first, but no big deal in the end, it is safe again to go and play/run/walk afterwards ... and it's an opportunity to learn from (be a bit careful where you play for ex.) though it's still sucks when it happens to you ofc :/ (edit: i guess you already made her feel safe again, just thought i'd give a possible useful idea/way to explain, feeling a bit silly i don't have kids, who am i to give you advice, just trying to help, made me think of a girl i knew who refused to get out of the car when she came home one day and found the door unlocked, years after a burglary had shaken her up too, just hate to see ppl carry traumas with them for years)
thanks for the wise advice. She does seem to be more 'ok' now - and had a friend over. They, of course, played burglars and Amanda went around 'smelling' if there were any burglars around. She could somehow laugh at it. But it's of course still there. She is a very sensitive little girl, wondering and pondering and speculating a lot about life and death! Personally I just feel watched all the time. It's a very unpleasant feeling and I hope it will go away again soon.
Very sorry to hear this Lykke, but Im so glad you and yours are safe and whole! I would very much recommend a alarm system for your home if at all possible. I would also recommend a small fireproof safe that can be bolted to the floor, this can serve double duty to house important papers and to keep your small valuables safe and they are fairly inexpensive these days. Hope they catch the fuckers and manage to drop them down a couple flights of stairs on the way to the station. Blackjack
I agree with BJ, get yourself good alarm system, it's not uncommon that burglers return to places where they've been! Talk to your neighbours perhaps, it 's good thing to watch each others back against scumbags like this! Really hope they catch those bastard soon...bit dissapointed when I hear how the danish police handled this though...but rest assure that these lowlifes will end up in jail though! They always do!
Hey BJ :) Long time no see. Hope you're fine and had a great New Year ^^ We already talked about getting an alarm. The problem is, it's quite expensive. But if we're lucky to get some ensurance money out, we definitely will get both that and a safe. we already talked about placing that in the basement ... not that we have much to put in it anymore Thanks
Oh Hey Jim :) You posted inbetween I replied to jack. I am also afraid they will come back, because I could see they moved Peter's laptop, but it was stuck in the core, the same with our Nintendo Wii, which was half on the floor. My guess is I caught them in the act, and they didnt get everything. Our neighbours are already watching - and we always also keep an eye on their houses - but this hour a day was so stupid, and they are building a house on the ground behind us, which is kind of noisy too. Our neighbour came over and appologized for watching tv ... but I mean, that's really not his fault! I have to admit, I'm also disapppointed about the police. What if I WAS all alone with my daughter and didnt have a husband? Dunno. Life comes over things, and they did have some urgent accidents that evening - including a very big fire not far from us.
So sorry to hear about this. Horrible thing to experience, not just the loss of personal items with high affection value or expensive items in the whole. But the intrusion to your privacy, your home is at least as harsh. Hope all is going well and hope the young one will be calmed.
Sorry to hear that. I'm still in shock that you had to wait so long for the police to get there! I cannot even fathom that. I hope Peter finds those ass munches before the cops do.
Five years ago I was being assaulted on the street (as usual, they want something you got), while defending myself with one hand and calling the police with another, they told me they were could not do anything about it.(despite the fact that there is a station just five blocks from there, and I had given the name of the street and number where I was closest at) I felt kind of odd, however with both hands free now I could then struggle with the offender in order to be able to leave. They do however show up at your door step threatening to take you if you forget to pay a bill - perhaps this is what the whole local police force was busy about at the time on your area when this occured. What is going on with the police here in Scandinavia. it is really sad, I hope they catch the thief - if they are not too busy, of course.
WTF!? I mean multiple WTFs - with whole incidence, kids stuff, pigs and the "we'll come some other time pigs..." Hoping you the best and one rottweiler :(
WOW lykke, I didn't see you post sooner then today. It sucks!! Hope you are all OK by now and I hope they will catch the guy (maybe look for your stuff on ebay (or some local website) I hear people finding their own stuff on there sometimes. I really hope Amanda is OK, it must be terrifying to a little girl. I hate that burglars take stuff that can't be replaced (well I hate that they take anything of course). I mean an ipod can be replaced and is insured, but some very old jewelery can't be replaced and is probably lost forever.
Just saw the post. So sorry to hear about the loss of your valuable items. Used to have the same problem when I was living at my old house. I was still a young kid then but I can remember it quite vividly. The experience was bad, with my mum crying while holding my puny hands. The burglars had made a big hole on the roof to climb into the house. They stole everything they could have stolen and fled through the backdoor. When we got back home that day, it was raining and the interior of the house was flooded because of the hole they've made. My mum was devastated for many months because of the incident as we lost a lot of stuff plus the fact that we needed to renovate the house due to the damages of the flooded ground. Fortunately, as in your case, we weren't at home when it happened. I'm glad that Amanda, Peter and you survived this ordeal without any physical scars although there's bound to be some emotional ones. I agree with the rest. The neighbors can't keep watch 24 hrs a day and even though the alarm system might be a tad expensive, I think its well worth the investment Lykke. It's good for the family's psychological well being as well at this point of time. Take care now Lykke, Peter and Amanda! Hope you guys recover from this soon.
Thanks Cyrus and the rest of you, who so kindly wished us luck with it all. Update is, that more than 14 days after the burglary, we still didn't get the broken window replaced, but instead have a huge board in front of the window. The wood worker promised us to have it soon, so we hope it will happen, because it's very depressing to look at. Cyrus, even though one should not compare because situations are never alike, you had a horrible experience back then, and I can only try and imagine the fear and frustrating your mom must have felt back then! And yes, fortunately you didn't caught them in the act either. These are the kind of people, who's behavior you can never trust. Good to hear nothing ad happened I got all the papers sent to the ensurance company and to the police. I spent 3 hours at a juveler shop, trying to value the lost items, but that wasn't very easy tbh. BUT on a good note, I started my new job and so far it has been absolutely fantastic :) Thanks again, everyone - take care and remember to have fun ^^
