A Child Took Fallen Display Tinsel—So Her Parents Brought Her Back to Apologize, and He Played Along to Teach a Harsh Lesson
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Teaching kids not to steal is something all parents should teach their kids.
That is what a mother was doing in this story when she brought her daughter back into a flooring store to return a few pieces of shiny material that fell off a display piece.
The store owner was going to just tell her she could have it, but the mother was clearly trying to teach a lesson, so he played along.
This is a great way to teach kids right from wrong, and this young lady undoubtedly learned. Check out the full story below.
Little Girl “stole” broken pieces, parents teach a lesson.
This was a few years ago when I worked at a flooring company.
Let’s see what happened here.
We sold tile, mosaics, granite, laminate, etc. Very often little pieces would fall off the mosaics because the glue on the mesh backings only held for so long, especially when tossed around.
It was close to closing, both parents and their daughter (definitely no more than 6, maybe a little younger) looked around the store. I don’t recall them buying anything, which is normal because usually people would come in to get ideas at that time, rather than buy the full amount for their project at 8pm.
Teaching children not to steal is always good.
I watched all three walk out, wishing them a good night, and saw them get in their car. Less than five minutes pass before the mother (M) walks back into the store guiding the little girl (LG) to my counter. The mother prompts her to tell me something.
LG: shows me something in her hand (a few stones that had fallen off some of our mosaics that she most likely found on the floor) and says “I took these earlier.”
Mom wants the child to learn a lesson.
I was going to brush it off and tell her she didn’t do anything wrong, but M piped up..
M: “And we know it’s wrong to steal things.”
Oh wow. He took his role seriously.
I realized that M was using this as a learning opportunity, so I played along: “That’s right, I’m glad you brought this back to us. Otherwise we’d have had to call the cops and they would arrest you.”
LG apologized for taking it without asking and M smiled at me and mouthed “thank you”. I let LG know that she did a good thing, bringing them back (trying to make her feel better) and wished her a good night.
At least Mom appreciated it.
I smiled and gave a little wave to her mom as they left, again.
Honestly we can’t do anything with those broken pieces and I wanted to let LG keep them, but teaching a lesson about stealing is more important and I understand that.
I wonder if that LG will remember that incident as she grows up.
Teaching kids not to steal is extremely important, and it seems like this mother handled it perfectly. Whether the child remembers this specific event or not, the lesson won’t be forgotten.
Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about the situation.
I almost feel bad for this kid.
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This is a great way to teach kids.
Here is a mother who did something similar.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a craft store customer who refuses to take no for an answer when it comes to wrapping his purchases for gifts.
This commenter stole a marble and had a similar lesson.
Yes, she will remember this lesson forever.
She clearly didn’t mean to do anything wrong, but it was still a lesson that needed to be learned. Well done to the mother and the shop worker.
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