I am at a loss at how to make my 5 year old Belle understand that just because she can't have something, it doesn't give her the right to steal it. Last week we were in the mall Father's day shopping and Belle was frustrated at taking time to buy daddy's present. When I let her walk around to look at things in a more kid friendly store she asked me to buy everything for her and got angrier everytime I said NO. I told her I wasn't buiying things for her because she had misbehaved, but if she was good maybe we could come back and get something. Well on the way out I turned around to catch her SHOPLIFTING! I know it may not sound huge to some but she was so sneaky about it and knew that what she was doing was wrong. I made her turn it over to the girl working there and she said it was OK, but since we have been home I have gone in her room to find that she has stolen from her 2 sisters her brother, her dad and myself. She truly has the mentality that if she wants something she can make it her own. So I guess I need help in knowing the best way to teach her that she can't take everything she wants and sometimes we will never get what we want. She is such an intelligent beautiful girl, but this one I just can't seem to get through to her. I even tried scaring her about jail, it didn't do anything but make her mad. Please help...I love her so much, but she is so young to already be doing these things.
My daughter will do that too, at times. She hasn't tried to shoplift, but I do find things in her room that shouldn't be there. For instance, I found Monopoly money in her little cash register, or a toy of my sister from my mother's house (my sister is 3). The worst thing is food. She'll sneak snacks into her room and leave half of it stashed some where. Gross. Nothing worse than finding petrified cookies in a shoe! She actually hasn't done it lately, I'm thinking that it is just a stage. Keep the punishments consistent. And reinforce the rules often. Talk about stealing when she's not expecting it. Like, when there are no incidences. I think 5 yr olds vaguely understand the concept that stealing is wrong, but remember, they are still only 5. They have to remember that actions have consequences. That's what's hard for them to learn, I think. They think they won't get caught. Even though they are usually very bad at being sneaky!
