Saturday, December 03, 2011

My son, the klepto (need advice)

Jeff has always teased me for being a klepto because we end up with hymn books or people's sweaters at my house. BUT, my stealing is always unintentional. :-) Jeff texted me yesterday to ask if I had borrowed cash from his wallet. I told him no and when he looked again, he realized he all that was left was half of a dollar bill, so he knew this was a small kid's doing. Well, come to find out, it was Bryce in the middle of the night. He is obsessed with getting money and buying his own Ipod Touch. (He's 4 1/2, remember?!) So, Jeff decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. He took every dollar bill and coin out of his piggy bank. When Bryce discovered it was empty, he cried and cried. Jeff said, "Isn't that so sad that someone came and stole all your money? How does that make you feel?" Jeff thought he had gotten the point across, but then an hour later we see Bryce's piggy bank has new change in it. He had taken Dallin's money. Ugh!!! Has anyone had experience with this? What should we do?

In good kid news, we taught them all how to play Settlers of Catan. I played a game with them last night, and it was surprisingly fun. Bryce actually won, and I realized he is just too smart for his own good- and mine!


4 comments:

Emily said...

I wish I had advice, but I really don't. I'm not sure a four-year-old understands that kind of thing--although he definitely should understand consequences in general, and if the consequence of stealing is REALLY bad (no TV for a week, take away every single toy and he has to "buy" each one back with an act of service, etc.) he might get the message more clearly.

Stephanie said...

This is just a stage. He really doesn't quite understand the value of money yet, but understands it is of 'some sort of value' and makes you all upset when he takes it!

I had one kid (you can guess who) who was a major steal-er at that age. This kid stole cash, Wes's wallet, my wedding ring, siblings money...you name it he/she stole it. We had countless lessons on 'Thou shalt not steal' for FHE and they didn't really work. We just had to go with it. Stay true to what was right and hope she/he would eventually out grow it. And it worked- over time! Makes for great memories though!

Anonymous said...

It's almost december 13 idk you but i cant wait to know!!!

Kelly(M&M) said...

Thanks for the support Emily and Steph. I do remember the stories about your "thief" Steph. Thanks for the reminder that I am not alone! The update is that we have a "be honest" sticker to earn for the day if he has done his best. Even if he admits he told a lie, we will give him the sticker!
Annonymous- How did you come across my blog? :-) Let me know so I can read yours!