We've been dealing with a problem for quite some time, and it seems to be escalating now that our twins are realizing the value of money... stealing. We have tried a variety of rewards and consequences. I thought that teaching them the value of working to earn money would help, but they are smart enough to figure out that stealing money (or other cool-looking items) is much faster and easier than earning it. What creative solutions do you guys have for a Sticky Finger problem?
-- Camille
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The primary therapist who worked with many of our children had a "pay it back twice" philosophy that, although I'm not sure I completely agree with the underlying premise, has worked very well for numerous of our children. When caught stealing from family members, that family member took "two" somethings of his/her choosing from the one with the sticky fingers. I kept track of the things stolen elsewhere, i.e. school, and the child was always required to pay it back twice (return the item and also pay the owner the monetary value) with an apology. We have taken our children to have a chat with the security guard at WalMart but that didn't seem to have the impact that "pay it back twice" had.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. That actually is our current rule (pay it back twice), and we've also had some visits with store managers. But I'd never heard of the idea to let the child stolen from choose 2 things that belong to the child who stole the items. That is something to consider - maybe it would finally get their attention.
ReplyDeleteWe had our children who had the sticky fingers return the item to the person and go do community service for some elderly people in our community, whether at their house or at the nursing home, semi-indpeendent living housing, etc. I wanted to end with them returning the item and them giving back to someone else in need. Not sure this is the best solution either, but it did work for a couple of our children.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea - I have made them do jobs for me, but not as community service for others. Thanks Karen!
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