The thief

  Today was an eventful day. Among the many errands I had to run, one of my stops was at Joann Fabrics. We were there for a while so the kids were tired and I was frazzled by the time we had checked out, but alas, we made it home and were outside enjoying some play time when I noticed that Taevin and a bunch of the neighbor kids were chewing gum. I asked where they got it and they said that Ryler had given it to them. Given that Ryler cannot be trusted with gum, I very rarely have it around, so I called him over to inquire about where he had gotten it from. He innocently replied (with a wad of gum the size of a kiwi in his mouth) that he got it from the store and showed me the empty package.
  Oh boy! Well my first response was to be angry but upon further questioning on our way back to the store, I discovered that not only did he not know what stealing was, but also didn't understand why it was bad. I explained things to him and told him that to make it right he needed to tell the lady at the store what he did, apologize, and pay for the gum. He was quiet for the ride there then asked me as we walked in if the store alarm was going to go off and begged me to talk to the lady for him. The poor kid was terrified! I assured him that they would be nice as long as he was honest. He was hiding behind me and almost in tears as we approached the counter, I'm sure in his little 4 year old head he was picturing himself being handcuffed and hauled off to jail. I explained what had happened and had him give the lady his money, all the while he was refusing to speak or  even look at the lady at the counter. He seemed relieved when she handed him his receipt and I explained that the gum was now his.
  The look on his face was one of the cutest I've ever seen so I felt a little bit bad that he was so traumatized by the experience but hopefully it was memorable enough that this won't happen again. For me, the whole ordeal was just amusing. I love that crazy kid!