How Craigslist Saved My 3-Year-Old Daughter's Birthday

Moms and dads: Have you ever had your child ask you for a birthday present? Have you ever failed to deliver that asked-for-present, and seen the disappointment in your child's eyes? Did you search high and low, call every toy store in the state, even call relatives in other countries in the search for that elusive gift? Did you try Craigslist? No? You were too afraid that a psycho would show up at your door looking to kill your family and rob you of your money?

I'll admit, I've used Craigslist with great trepidation for those exact reasons. Actually, I've only used it twice, but both times with great success. I found my awesome cleaning lady last year on there, but that was after I weeded through the weirdos and the freaks that called.

Then, last month, Craigslist saved the day when my 3-year-old began asking for a certain Power Wheels Pink Escalade. How hard could it be to find one, right? Wrong! The first problem came up when we went to our local toy store, a major chain that you are all familiar with, and they had none. They checked nearby stores and no one had the truck. I went home and found the phone number for every single toy store in the NYC metropolitan area, including New Jersey. I than called every single one of them with no luck. I finally spoke to one gentlemen who informed me that the car was now discontinued. A horrible, dreaded word in the world of children.

Onto eBay I went, and there were none. How could that be? eBay has everything for sale. Heck, haven't I seen kidneys for sale on there? How hard could it be to find one Pink Escalade? I showed my daughter all the other vehicles she could choose from. Pink jeeps, pink 4 wheelers, even Dora wouldn't sway her from the Escalade with the chrome rims. I was doomed.

In a last ditch effort, I tried Craigslist for New York; and there it was - one single Pink Power Wheels Escalade for sale in the Bronx. It was almost brand new, already put together, and best of all $75 cheaper than it would have been in the store. I called the number in the listing, spoke to a very nice mother who's daughter was afraid of the thing, and we arranged for my brother-in-law to pick it up. The transaction went smoothly and my daughter is thrilled with her "Esca-ade" as she calls it.

No one robbed us, no one is stalking my family or trying to kill us, and we fulfilled my 3-year-old's only birthday wish. What more could you ask for?