DEAR ABBY: I am a 20-something new mother, as are most of my friends. On New Year's Eve, my husband and I invited all our friends who have small children over to ring in the new year together. The idea was that the children (all 20 months and younger) could play and fall asleep, while the adults sat back and enjoyed themselves.
The nursery was packed with little ones snug in their makeshift beds, as their moms and dads sang "Auld Lang Syne." A good time was had by all.
The next day, I received a phone call from my cousin, who attended the party. He's a police officer. He told me that two of my guests had reported $50 stolen from their purses sometime during the evening. I was flabbergasted. All of the guests who attended are so close that my husband and I would have trusted them with our children's lives. Now we don't know what to do. I've called each guest. No one else had money stolen, and any one of us would have gladly lent funds to whoever took the cash from those purses.
What do I do now, Abby? I have lost trust in my closest friends. I had scheduled play dates for our children, but have told the other mothers not to bring their purses. -- HEARTSICK IN CLEARWATER, FLA.
DEAR HEARTSICK: By notifying your guests about the unfortunate incident, you have already done the responsible thing. You have prevented it from happening again.