2012 HomeWorld
Middletown High School Orchestra
Theatre Guild's "Wittenberg"
Home > Blogs > Adventures in Motherhood > Archives > 2009 > June > 09 > Entry
Motherhood: Young son has sticky fingers … the shoplifting kind
A few weeks ago, Daddy and I decided to visit my old college haunts at OSU.
Our two boys, who are already die-hard Buckeye fans, were surprisingly eager to take a walk down memory lane with Mommy. Other than going to the infamous “Horseshoe” for football games, I hadn’t been back to visit for quite some time.
We started out by going to the bookstore, which turned out to no longer be the bookstore. An employee from a businesses above the former location came out to our minivan and said, “You looking for Long’s?” Sheepishly, we said, “How did you guess?” He laughed and informed us that we weren’t the first family-toting alumni to do so.
We drove around and took in the new scenery. New to me, anyway. What happened to the rundown places that harbored all of my memories? Now replaced with fancy new buildings and posh businesses, I have to say, OSU is looking quite appealing. A fact I continue to relay to my young sons (no pressure, of course).
We finally ended up in a souvenir store. No big surprise there; after all, they carry maternity OSU gear. After traipsing through the aisles of Buckeye everything, we finally made our way to the check-out.
While waiting in line, Nick, who is 3, decided to begin pulling name-keychains off of a spinning display rack. “Mommy, is this my name?” has asked of every one he yanked down and then put back … or so we thought.
A police officer patrolling the store, had been watching and talking to the boys. Typical boys — they thought this was totally cool. And, it certainly kept their sometimes rowdy behavior in check, which was fine with me. The officer was aware of Nick’s keychain activity. But, apparently not aware enough.
As we walked out onto the sidewalk, Daddy reached down to hold Nick’s hand and said, “Uhm, Darc … did you pay for this?” He held up a little key chain. It didn’t say “Nicholas” on it. Uh-oh.
“But I want it!” screeched Nick as Daddy pulled him back into the store to return the key chain and apologize.
The policeman had a good laugh at himself and admitted, he had watched Nick with the key chains, but honestly thought he had put it back. Not the case.
Fortunately, Nick returned his little stolen treasure without much hassle or argument … and no handcuffs.
Thank you, understanding store employees.
We don’t want to owe OSU anything more than tuition one day and maybe Nick will decide to major in criminal justice.
Have you ever arrived home with something accidentally unpaid for? Found buried in a stroller or Junior’s pocket? Tell us about it …
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0356 or dmjordan@coxohio.com.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: Motherhood Column
Comments
By aharddaysnight
June 10, 2009 4:09 PM | Link to this
I think all kids do that before they learn what stealing really is. My girls did it(gum and soap), I did it(PEZ)and I think my husband did it. We got in trouble and so did the girls. Now we are all honest law abiding citizens. LOL. I don’t blame him for wanting the OSU keychain though!
By ohgodno
June 10, 2009 3:12 PM | Link to this
My youngest daughter once swiped an ink pen with bright pink feathers on it from the Dollar Store here. She was 4. Her sister (5) got mad because she didn’t grab one for her too. So when I took them back in to return it, one was screaming because she couldn’t keep and one was screaming because she was mad at her sister. Too funny. Now.
By Amy
June 10, 2009 12:06 PM | Link to this
We were at Graeter’s Ice Cream Parlor when my son was about 3 or 4 and I later found a foil covered chocolate car in his pocket. He said they were in a basket and he thought they were free. I guess the cookie samples at Krogers had him convinced that if it was out in a basket it was free for the taking.
By shellymoe
June 10, 2009 10:50 AM | Link to this
I caught my oldest with a candybar while leaving Meijer on Harshman 5 or so years ago. When I made her return it, the manager kept saying it was “no big deal”. That ticked me off! Theft IS a big deal, regardless of the value of the item.
By Jeff Hodapp
June 10, 2009 7:00 AM | Link to this
When I was a child, I saw a lady putting Brach’s candy in her purse. I thought “Oh boy, free candy” so I put a handfull in my pocket. My parents made me go back in the store and return it. I was very upset because I was misled and I really like candy.
By Nick
June 10, 2009 12:57 AM | Link to this
I once had a hair scrunchie snag on the velcro of my coat as I waited in a checkout lane, I saw it just before the door.
By Michelle
June 9, 2009 12:53 PM | Link to this
Our daughter once stole a lime from the grocery store. She was probably only about 6 months old.