Tonight's post was going to be of my baking business but there has been a turn of events.
No worries, as my son is healthy, strong and active. But there has been an ongoing situation that I am unable to fix. So I look to you, my friends from the Steemit world. This has been going on for 2.5 yrs.
Aaden is 7 yrs old. He is a tall boy and an ever sensitive boy. He is never deprived of natural needs like food, water, cleanliness, activities. I never raised him to be greedy. Teaching him that we can't always have what we want. And sometimes what we want isn't always good.
When he was in kindergarden, he stole from school. Small toys like legos, pieces of playdoh etc. We would give him consequences and have him give back what he stole to the teacher. It didn't phase him and did it again, this time we sent a letter and worked with the teacher in means to fix this problem.
It went well and we thought Aaden understood, but months later he was back at it again. Same thing, little toys. We repeated the process and again thought it was all good.
Over the summer he stole from Walmart. A pack of gum. I was so lucky to catch him with it in the van just before leaving. I brought him back inside the store. Brought him to customer service and had him give it back and apologize. He didn't want to apologize, he was too embarrassed. Good! I waited and we stayed until he did, but he wasn't able to bring himself to say a full sentence as to why he was sorry. I thought because he was humiliated and embarrassed. Maybe, maybe not.
It's been going on like this on and off. Months in between.
Today we went to town, had a few things to grab at the grocery store. Things were good the kids were ok but constantly asking to have everything. I refused. I will not spoil them with needless things and countless ways to rot their teeth. I do not always have the money to pay for it either.
We got home and every now and then I was smelling something sweet. I have a keen sense of smell and this smell was something sweet and lemony. But no kid around me. I went on a hunt. Just like that little fox. Didn't smell in the living room. Not in the kitchen either. I shrugged it off.
I put the girls to bed for 7:30. Aaden gets 15 min more than the girls since he is now older. A birthday gift we thought he was worthy of. We explained to him that even though it is 15 min he is getting, it also means that he has more responsibilities, he is older and more things come with age.
When it was time to put Aaden to bed, I had to put Frankie back in bed as well. She wasn't sleeping yet and just had fun roaming around. When I got to Aaden's room he was still and under his blanket waiting for me to put him to bed. There was that smell again. I put my hand just under his mouth and told him to spit it out. He stole my gum. I had already told him today that if he wants gum, to ask for it. But the smell wasn't from the gum. I lifted his blanket and found he had a push pop right beside him. He stole it from the grocery store he admitted.
I am at the point where I feel powerless. I told him that he no longer has 15 min longer. It's gone. Not for 1 day or 2 days or even 3 days. He will have to earn it back. But how? I don't know how to make this work, to get him to stop this act before it gets worse and it becomes embedded in him like a habit.
It's like his innocence, this child's essence of innocence is being tarnished and blackened from something I do not see. He is such a good boy, and then he has a side of him that brings violence and hatred and hurt. How do I take that out of him?
So I ask to you all my friends, what is your advice? I am now at a loss and I am scared for him.
My father always told me, 'You can always straighten a crooked tree when it is young, but when its old it is strong, sturdy and tough. If you let it grow crooked, you cannot straighten it when its fully grown."