Teachable Moment

We had our first incident of childhood theft today.  We got home from Pump It Up, an inflatable play place, and Ethan showed me an air hockey puck he had stowed in his pocket.  He admitted that he knew he had it when we left.  So, we talked about how that was stealing.  After his nap he wrote a letter of apology (I didn't take a picture, but it said "Dear Pump It Up, Sorry for taking your puck.  Sincerely, Ethan") and then we drove the half an hour back and he went in to return it.  The employees thought it was very cute that he was saying sorry and brought a note, and after a few seconds caught on to what we were doing and thanked him for being honest and returning it and gave him a stamp on his hand.  I also taught Ethan about repentance and how he needed to feel sorry, make it right as much as he could, and then pray for forgiveness.  He's tells about the experience saying that he stole and he had to pray about it.

I'm glad the experience seems to have been serious, but positive too.  I'm also glad that Costco is right next to Pump It Up so we could make the trip productive and not an hour worth of driving just for a hockey puck (although hopefully the lesson on honesty will stick with him enough to make the trip worth it too).