The children and I were at Target. We were there with the purpose of buying a birthday gift for one of their friends. We went through all of the toys and pick out a couple of things their friend would enjoy. We went to check out at the register. There was candy and drinks that you could add to your sale on either side of the aisle. The boys wanted to get some candy for their friend, but I told them we had enough for his gift.

The cashier had all but two items rung up and I turned around to pull the cart through the aisle and tell the boys to move through. As I started talking to them, I saw my oldest son putting one hand to his mouth and the other hand was putting a open package of Rolos back on the shelf. As I spoke, he jumped and slowly turned around. I stood there for a moment in total shock think to myself, ‘my son just stole some candy.’

My shock went away very quickly and I asked him, “What did you just do?!?!” He stared up at me and said, “what about him?” Again, I was taken aback and thought to myself, ‘my youngest started it!’ So I looked at my youngest son and said, “You stole candy too?!” Addressing both boys I asked, “Do you boys realize what happens to people that steal?” I paused and then answered my own question by adding, “They go to jail!”

I finished checking out (secretly adding their stolen candy to the cart) as they stood there staring at me wondering what was next. I started thinking of appropriate punishments for them and could not come up with anything that would affect them enough to make a lasting impact. I suddenly thought about finding a security guard or an officer to talk to them. I could not find one there, so we left and got into our truck.

We headed out to the Birthday party as planned (ONLY because of how close we are to the family). I explained to the boys that they were in BIG TIME trouble. I had to stop for gas on the way, and while I was outside of the truck, my phone rang and I answered. When I got back into the truck, my oldest son asked me, “Mommy, was that the cops?” (The plan for their punishment was solidified at this point!)

I answered, “Yes, it was and they know that you two stole and are wanting to talk to you. Unfortunately they are too busy helping people to come to you right now, but we will make sure that we talk to them before we go home.”

My oldest then belted out as he started crying, “How could you let us go to jail?!?!”

I responded, “Honey, I cannot get you out of trouble that you get yourself into, I can stand by you, but you have to be responsible for what you do.”

Both children then sat quietly in their seats and did not say much more. We went to the party and as we were leaving they brought the topic back up immediately. I told them we were on our way to find an officer to talk to. It was after 6pm so the police stations were closed, so I drove around to where the cops park their cars and parked our truck to wait. (WAY TOO FUNNY!!) I explained that we had to wait for one to have time to come out and talk to us.

The first officer that walked out was a tall, dark, very intimidating man. I was even a tad afraid to approach him while he was carrying his riffle. I walked up to him and asked him for a favor. I explained my dilemma and what the boys had done. He gave me a crooked smile and said that he would help. He finished loading his car for with his equipment for his shift and then pulled his car around behind my truck. (He made this very real!)

He approached the truck and asked where they were. I rolled down the window so that he could talk to them. He then started his questioning. He said in a very deep voice, “What is going on boys?” He paused and received no response. Then he said, “Have you been stealing?”

My oldest then took over and replied, “Yes, but we said we were sorry and we prayed.”

Officer then said, “Are you wanting to go to jail tonight?”

This is where my youngest son just broke down and started bawling. As I sat in the front looking back on both of them (nearly in tears myself).

My oldest responded, “No, we said we were sorry.”

This exchange went on for about five minutes. The officer was very hard on them at first and slowly back off. He made both of them respond to questions and talked to each of them as little men. One of the last things he said was, “I want to be on your side and to always be nice to you, but if you make poor choices like you did today, I cannot be. You do not want for me to take you to jail because I am not nice to those that break the law. Do you understand?”

The boys thanked him dearly for not taking them to jail and the conversation ended. I stepped out and spoke with him and thanked him. He did such an awesome job addressing the issue at hand. He knew I wanted my boys to learn a true life lesson from him. I hope they will remember this for the rest of their days.