Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Adventures of a Bracelet Bandit

It was bound to happen sooner or later.
Carys always has her eye on sparkling thingamabobs at any store we go to. She always asks, "Mommy, can we buy this?" And I usually say no because, frankly, we're a tad bit tired of picking up various girly toys and accessories at home.

When shopping recently, a lovely, sparkly, PINK! bracelet caught Carys' eye while I was checking out. Of course, the stores know that mommies with tots in tow will (sometimes) oblige to a preschooler's request for something new & shiny - hence the reason they put these things at eye level to a 4-year-old at the check-out counter.

I saw her looking at it, amazed. I motioned that it was time to go and she put it back.

We traipse out to the car and I'm putting the bags in, buckling Cailyn in her seat -- and notice a nice little bauble on Carys' wrist.
She did, indeed, put the bracelet back when I told her it was time to go. I just didn't see that she already had one on her wrist.

So, we march back into the store and head back to the counter. We had a mini-conversation in the parking lot about how she had stolen something and that was wrong...she as scared to death to go back in the store.

We waited patiently for the cashier to help her current customer, and then I told Carys to give the merchandise back. She was extremely nervous, hiding behind me and refusing eye contact.
She handed over her loot and looked at the floor the whole time I was explaining what had happened.
The clerk didn't seem to care that I had just saved their store from lost property -- all two dollars worth. She smiled and asked me if I wanted to BUY it. Ummm, no.

This was a teachable moment for poor little Carys. She officially apologized and quietly asked me if the police were coming. (I had to chuckle at that, but not noticeably, of course.)

I remember when I was a bit older than Carys, I "sampled" a piece of Brach's candy from those huge open bins at the grocery store. I mean, they were just sitting there in their bright & shiny wrappers, begging for me to try one.
And I did.
And I got in huge trouble.
I remember my mom marching me to the manager of the store, so I could tell him what I had done. He was stern. My mom was stern. I was scared.
But I never did it again.

Hopefully, Carys learned a valuable lesson. No money, no purchase. (And no free samples, either!)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

good job, mom! Ahhh.....those teachable moments. (FYI: they get bigger!)

Uncle Bob . Aunt Sandy said...

Kids will be Kids, I think we all have been there, done that. That's what growing and learning is all about.

Anonymous said...

You did good Skye. I'm sure Carys learned her lesson well and will remember it. This is just the first learning lesson of many.

Candace said...

Very cute! Poor thing, thinking the police were going to come... LOL :)

Anonymous said...

Way to go Skye! I imagine Carys was terrified...but you handled everything very well!

Carla said...

Now Carys can join the gang! Hannah got out of the store with a pair of high-top Converse shoes (not even her size) and Faith got away with a snow globe from Carolina Beach!

Anonymous said...

I stole a tootsie roll once and had my dad do the same thing to me. It wasn't even a big one, just a mini one, maybe 10 cents, but I got in a billion dollars worth of trouble, never did it again.