To Steal or Not to Steal, THAT is the Question...

Well, it happened. The day came. The decision was made... you know, that decision "we all make" when we are children... To steal or not to steal. Unfortunately, my boys made the very frequent 4 and 7 yr old choice... to steal. The problem was, I did not know of either of their thievery until we were already home (2 towns over from the stores they stole from). Not only that, but it was the day before Easter, so the stores were closed the next day. Here are the things they just couldn't do with out:

When we got home, and I saw what they had... I immediately took them away and set them in a special spot, "Waiting to be returned and apologies given." They were not allowed to touch them or play with them (you have to be specific with Joe, or he'd find a way to play with it with out touching it! lol)

The best part of the story is actually that Monday. I found out that the items were stolen from two different stores (We had been on a hunt for something and went to about 5 stores)... It worked out well because each one of them had to speak to a manager on his own. Matthew's store was first.

We walked into JoAnn's fabrics and I asked for a manager. I had spoken with Matthew in the car about how he will say he is sorry, that he stole this, and he'd like to give it back. The problem was, when I put the item in his hands just before having to speak to the manager... his brain couldn't handle it and he started to squeeze it and lose concentration! LOL Then, he turned to me and said, "But Mama, I am shy." The manager stood there waiting. I told him, "Matthew, it doesn't matter if you're shy... when you made the wrong decision, you created the need to apologize and make it right." I knelt down to his level and helped him remember what to say. When he was done, his eyes were full of water and the manager was kind and thanked him for returning it and being honest.

As we were leaving that store, Joe said, "I hope the manager at my store isn't a man." I asked him why... He said, "Because Matthew's manager was so nice." Ha ha ha Without letting Joe know, I had secretly hoped Joe's manager would be a man... because he's not quite so "moved to emotion" as Matthew is and I wanted him to get just scared enough NOT to do this again.

We got to Micheal's craft store and I asked for the manager. A woman walked from the back of the store and said, "Are you the ones I am going to be talking to?" I nudged Joe. Joe stepped forward and said, "I was tempted, and I made the wrong choice, and I stole this, and I'd like to give it back. Please forgive me." I LOVED this manager. She looked at him square in the eye and said, "And you're not going to do this again, RIGHT?" Joe, still somewhat smiling, said, "No." She said, "Joe, this is VERY serious, and I don't want to have to call the police the next time I see you." Joe's smile left. HA HA HA Perfect lady, Perfect! She then changed gears and told him, while he is in her store, he can play with he items all he wants... but when Mama says no, he HAS TO leave it there. :) I loved her.

Soooo... I'm praying that the conversations Aaron and I had with them, mixed with the sheer embarrassment of having to do the returns will help them choose differently next time.