Every child steals. At least that is what my friends have been telling me all day. When I talked to Jay at lunch time and he read me the note that Hannah's assistant teacher sent home with her today, I was a little bit panicked that I had a clepto on my hands.
Apparently, Hannah forgot her snack from home today and spotted someone else's snack that she just had to have. So, she decided to steal another little girl's snack out of her cubby and pass it off as her own. When the little girl realized that Hannah had her snack, she, of course, told the teacher. The teacher confronted Hannah and she flat out denied it. Finally, after much coaxing, she told the truth, gave the girl her snack back and apologized. She also brought home a note that needs to be signed by us and returned tomorrow.
Needless to say,when I received the news that my little angel had not only stolen (food of all things so it looks like we don't feed her...), but lied about it when she was confronted, I felt completely deflated. But, after telling the story to several people, I realized that every one of us had a story to tell about something we stole when we were little and how we learned that it was wrong by either shame, our own conscience or severe punishment. One guy said he stole a Sponge Bob little note pad that his mother told him he wasn't allowed to get. Another said that she stole pipe cleaners one or two at a time from the art room at school because she liked all the pretty colors. And another girl had a thing for smelly markers. She took them one at a time until she had a box full of them. Her mother eventually found it and she had to return them. Even, I have a theft story from my preschool days...
I stole a bird's nest from a little boy when he brought it in for show and tell. I swiped it right out of his cubby and told my mom I found it on the playground. I took it home and placed it in a tree in the backyard that was right outside my bedroom window. My plan was to leave it in the tree so a bird would come and lay eggs. The next morning when I woke up and ran over to the window, I was devestated when I saw and empty tree. I was convinced that God had blown the nest out of the tree to teach me a lesson and I felt absolutely horrible. I didn't get caught, but I learned a valuable, lifelong lesson and never stole anything again. So, if I handle my little girl's theft correctly, there is hope she won't go on to lead a life of crime as a cleptomaniac booted out of stores for stealing.
Her punishment you ask? She spent about 2 hours in her room thinking about what she did. She was able to articulate to me why stealing was wrong and seems to understand that it is wrong and she wouldn't want someone to take something of hers. She also sat down and wrote a note to her classmate apologizing and will hand deliver it to her tomorrow. And, last but not least, she gets to deal with Mrs. Koepsell tomorrow who is returning from a 2 day absence. She is not going to be pleased at all with Hannah. Hannah is sweating it and we have all jabbed at her once or twice about how we feel sorry for her when Mrs. Koepsell hears about it. She probably won't sleep too good tonight, but I'm confident that when she walks off that school bus tomorrow she will have likely learned a very valuable, lifelong lesson. Or, she will have learned nothing and this is just the beginning of a long road. :)
Due to frequent antics on the part of Miss Hannah, Abigale hasn't gotten much mention lately. Here's a photo or two of my Abby. :)
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