A Thief in Our Midst

Do these toys look so awesome that you would do whatever it took to make them yours?
Well, my son thought so.

It all started when Evan woke up in the night crying from a bad dream (bad conscience, maybe?). I went in and hugged him for a while until he settled down. Evan sweats a lot when he first goes to sleep and his pillow gets pretty soaked. When I went to flip it so he could go back to sleep on the dry side, I found these little guys. Evan was immediately embarrassed and started to tear up. He knew he did a bad thing and he knew he was going to be in big trouble for it. I told him that he would be returning these to school tomorrow and that he would be telling his teacher what he did and that he was sorry for it.

The next morning Evan did not want to go to school. I made him, of course. We went a little early so that he could talk to Mrs. Holder. I asked her to come out in the hall because Evan had something to tell her. He was trying to hide in my coat and kept turning around. He wouldn't talk.

I asked her for a minute so I could talk to him.

I nicely explained to him that he was the one who stole the toys. "I didn't do it, so I am not going to be the one to tell her. Evan you need to take responsibility for the choice you made. You have to be the one to confess your mistake to Mrs. Holder."

"OK, Mommy."

I moved across the narrow hall and let him talk to her. It took a minute for him to start. He was trying really hard not to smile. I remember when I was a kid I always had to battle not smiling in embarrassing or awkward situations. I hated that! But he got through it. She was very good about making it a lesson and not getting all soft on him.

I hope he learned his lesson.