Caught my 5 yr. old son stealing today.

[JoyG]

We just got back from the grocery store. I had finished checking out and had piled all the groceries in the car. We were all buckled up and ready to pull away when I heard one of the twins saying, "oooohhhhh" I looked back and saw that one of the boys had snuck a package of candy out of the store. He knew he was stealing it b/c he had it held close to his leg on the way out of the store so I wouldn't see it.

I'm sooo glad this lesson happened with me and not with dh. I made everyone unbuckle their seatbelts and walk back into the store. Then ds had to give the candy back to the lady at the customer service desk and tell her what he did. He couldn't get the whole sentence out before he started crying. The lady said, "you're not going to do this again are you?" and he said no.

I remember my mom doing the same thing to me as a child when I took something from a store. It was a lesson I will never forget.

Anyway, I get home to ask dh what he would have done and he said he probably would have been mad but he wouldn't have taken him back in the store. I don't think "just getting mad" would have been effective enough.

Would you have gotten back out of the car?

 

[preshi]

Of course! It is the only way they are going to learn right from wrong. They needed to know the consequences. I think you're right on!

Cute kids BTW!

 

[LukenDC]

I think you handled the situation perfectly, Joy.

 

[lil mermaid]

I think you absolutely, positively did the right thing. Good job, Mom!

 

[wdwmom2]

You did the right thing. When I was around his age I stole the neighbor's cat . I hid the little kitty in the basement. My mom found it and promptly marched me and the cat to the neighbor's house to return it. Then I had to apologize. I remember it very clearly. It was a lesson well learned!!!!

 

[momm2four]

It's better for him to be embarrassed a little now than to be humilitated when he's 22.

I definitely think you did the right thing. Unbuckling three kids and going back into the store after a shopping trip takes a lot of determination on your part to be a good parent. It would have been so easy to just say, "That was the wrong thing to do," and drive home. Good job!

Lori P.

 

[goofy's friends]

Absolutely the right thing to do!! It is a whole lot better to feel the consequences at his age than to have to feel worse consequences later. This should be a lesson he won't soon forget. My son took a little party favor from a store once and I found it in his pocket doing the laundry. Iknew he took it, because he had begged for it at the store. I called the manager ad made an appointment and took him in to apologize--he was mortified!! that's what I wanted him to feel. The manager said on the phone "It's only a 5 cent ring" and I told him it didn't matter how much it was worth, I wanted him to learn the lesson. And he did

 

[anewvance]

Absolutely the right thing to do... hopefully he learned his lesson!

 

[sajetto]

You did absolutely the right thing! My uncle just had to do this with my 4 year old cousin. Unfortunately, he took it too far. Not only did he take her to a cashier, but he also waltzed her over to the store security officer. She did nothing but sob and scream that she didn't want to go to jail the whole time.

 

[Puffy2]

When this exact same thing happened in our family, I turned the car around, drove the two miles back to the store and did exactly what you did. Yes it was a pain in the rear, but it's the only way to make it clear to a young child that steeling is not acceptable. It hasn't happened again.

 

[mckryan]

Yep, we would have been back in the store as soon as I discovered it. And, if they had ate it before I discovered it, we'd still be going back to the store. I did the same thing at his age, and I'll never forget having to take the candy back to the store. I never stole again!

 

[Skylarr29]

I think you handled it perfectly. It was a lesson well learned but you didn't over-react. I think it will be pretty effective for all three of your children.

 

[mylilnikita]

My DD hasn't tried that yet, but if she does, I plan to do what you did. Now she has tried to play sick then I catch her in room and then off to school we went, she didn't try that again.

 

[Buckalew11]

Good job, Joy. It would have been the lazy way out to just stay in the car, be mad or even carry out punishment at home. I figured you were gonna say your DH would've "killed him". Better tell him to get with the program! LOL

 

[tiggerlover]

Kudos to you for doing the right thing!!!! I would have done the same exact thing if it had happened to me. I did the same thing your DS did when I was little, but I think I was 7 and it was a Chunky bar. My mom did the same thing, it is an important lesson to learn and I turned out to be a law abiding citizen!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

You did the right thing.

I did the same thing when I was that age. I swiped a pack of gum. My mom didn't know I had done it until we got home (5 minutes away). We got back in the car and returned to the store. Crying my eyes out, I gave the cashier back the gum. She felt sorry for me and said, "Awwwwww honey, it's all right." My mom, frustrated and teeth grinding, "Don't tell her that!!!"

We laugh about it now.

 

[chell]

Good for you. Had to do the same thing with my nephew one time when he took chap-stick.

 

[goofy's friends]

I was thinking about how my DH would have handled it. I think he would have been mad and not gone back in like your DH. He has a "how things are perceived" issue. He probably would have thought it made him look like a bad parent that his DS would steal, not realizing that kids just don't have that concept.(some, not until they learn it the hard way). Your gut reaction was right on.

 

[tiff211]

I also think you did the right thing. DD5 did it once, and when we walked back in the store, the cashier told her she could have it! UH!! NO!!! Wring answer!

DD3 tried it also and the cashier looked stunned that we had come back in for a pack of gum!

 

[JoyG]

Thanks everyone!

Dh is the lenient one in the family. So even though it was a pain in the rear, it's best it occured on my watch.