It's been a very very long weekend.
I'm corresponding secretary for the school PTO. This means I write all of the memos and email that go to the parents. Supporting the school is important to me and this position means I am a member of the executive board - it's about 10 hours per month worth of work. I feel this is just about the most time I can put in right now with Lindsay, my constant companion.
One of my friends chaired a fund-raiser over the weekend. This was a huge event, and she did an awesome job. I was sorry my schedule didn't permit me to be more involved, because it was just really cool. When she called that she needed someone to sell raffle tickets because another friend's kid was sick, I was happy to fill in. I was at the school for about an hour and a half on Friday afternoon.
On my way out, one of Lauren's teachers bought some raffle tickets. As I locked up the room, her primary teacher ran out to speak with me. I should've put together that this wasn't going to be a casual conversation.
It seems they'd caught Lauren pocketing beads. When confronted, she lied about it. I realized there had been several items that came home in the last week that didn't belong to her, she'd claimed she'd found on the bus ("Finders, keepers..."). When I mentioned an item, the teacher's eyes widened, and I knew we had a problem.
When I got home, I went through her toy box and found an item I knew belonged in the church nursery, and at least 5 that I suspected belonged to her classroom.
Really, I'm parenting far far over my head.
"She probably doesn't realize what she did was stealing..." assured Karen via IM.
Today, we returned the My Little Pony she'd taken from the church nursery. She cried and barely got out an "I'm sorry" through the barrage of snot and tears. Tomorrow, we have to go in and speak with her teacher.
3 comments:
I, too, believe that Lauren didn't understand that it was stealing. I am sure that the incidents will be corrected and it won't happen again.
The fact that she lied about the beads means she at least had a sense that something she was doing was wrong, although this may have just been from the teacher's reaction.
That being said, I have known tons of kids who have went through a klepto phase when young and I think that's really understandable. It must be hard at their age to understand why they can't just have something when they want it.
Don't fret too much about this. I think you handled it perfectly by making her confess and return the items.
My thoughts are with you today - having Lauren apologize to her teacher might actually feel worse to you than to her! Looking at the big picture, perhaps it's better to deal with this now than when she's a teenager?
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