I was going to make one of these cute pockets for Ty...

...but the last thing Ty needs right now is more pockets.

Here's why:

He's a thief.

He started out just sneaking things like my phone or video games from the cupboard he's not supposed to be in. I also caught him putting a candy bar in his pocket in line at the grocery store. But yesterday his sneaking escalated to full on petty theft.

Luckily Ashlynn spotted the packet of gum bulging from his pocket when we were 10 steps outside of the gas station. I was mortified, but we were in such a hurry to get Ash to piano lessons, that I just grabbed the gum, put it back and left. (I did give Ty a pretty good lecture while I was buckling him in the car.)

Once we dropped Ash off at her lesson, I made up my mind that Ty needed to learn his lesson now, otherwise the sneaking was going to get worse. So I explained to Ty that he was going to have to go back and apoligize to the gas station man for stealing his gum. (I didn't know if he really comprehended the stealing part of it, but he new he was being disobedient by hiding the gum in his pocket.)

When I told him our plans, the corners of his mouth actually turned down and his eyes got all watery while he said, "But I'm going to be shy".

Call me heartless, but I was actually pleased to see this reaction because it meant this consequence was making an impact on him.

After a quick explanation to the gas station man, he bent down to hear Ty's confession. Of course Ty just kept his face down while his big brown eyes searched the attendants face for some sort of mercy. No matter how much I prompted, he wouldn't say anything. So I excused Ty and myself so we could, how shall we say, reassess.

"Ty you have a choice. Either you can apologize to the gas station man, or I can take you to the police station and you can apologize to the policeman."

Whoa! This got his attention. However, he wouldn't be a fighter if he didn't try one last tactic.

"But you don't even know where the police station is!" he stated defiantly.

"Oh yes I do! It's right by Daddy's bank. So what's it gonna' be?"

No thought."I'll apologize,"

He marched right back over to the man and stated clearly, "I'm sorry I stole your gum." Then he threw himself into my arms.


Hopefully he learned his lesson. Probably not, though. Remember we are talking about the kid who got stuck TWICE in the toilet and has gotten his mouth washed out with soap multiple times. He's not dumb, but he refuses to learn from his mistakes.

This makes everything so much more fun for me!