A Lesson On Stealing

My son stole something.

Did he know he had it when we left the store? Yes. Did he know stealing is wrong? Yes.

I sighed with disappointment. I didn’t think I’d have to deal with this issue with my kids since they are content with their toys and so good at not whining about buying toys at stores. They’re so good in fact that I enjoy taking them out to stores for window shopping.

Perhaps he’s confused.

Recently, I took the kids to Fred Meyers. I received a $20 Fred Meyer gift card from work and didn’t have anything specific to spend it on. I told the kids that they each had $5 to spend. Kadie and Violet combined together to get a toy puppy for $10. Bruce spent a little over his amount for a set of construction toys for $6.

We visited Target a week later when Jenni had to get something from Target. Bruce was upset that he didn’t get anything.

I took the kids on a Daddy-date to the new Bricks and Minifig store. All the kids gravitated to the build-your-own-minifig table. You choose the hair or helmet, head, body, legs, and one accessory for $4 each or 3 for $10. I did notice that Bruce had a handful of accessories in his hands. It made natural sense that he would some his pocket to prevent dropping them as he dug around.

I just didn’t think he would keep a minifig wrench accessory in his pocket as we left.

Kadie discovered the wrench accessory later that day and I confronted Bruce. He did not lie about it and recognized that it was wrong.

So we went back to the store to give the wrench back and apologize. As we left, I asked him if he still knew that I loved him, even though he did something wrong. He confidently responded, “Yes.”