Not the Jane’s Addiction song, but a parenting experience at Whippersnappers Kids’ Consignment Shop.  I’d dropped off a bag of old clothes to sell (got $11) and convinced A. to try on an adorable, red and black, red-riding-hood style, fleece coat with toggle buttons.

She grudgingly put the coat on, then skipped off to the Kids’ Area with play with enticing store toys.  When it came time to remove the voluminous fleece , she sidled away from me and refused to take it off.  She was acting so strange and sneaky, I asked her if she need to pee.

“Yes, but don’t come in, Mommy!”

“I’m coming in,” I said.

In the store bathroom, I discovered she was hiding a grubby stuffed-animal-flower-thingy under the big coat.  Tears and whining ensued when I told her we couldn’t take it home.  

“You wanted it so much, you were trying to keep it,” I said, trying, despite my shock, to be a little compassionate.  ”But it lives here, and stealing is a crime.”  

The kind owner offered her a free coloring book, but A. only launched a full-blown tantrum, culminating in physical removal to the car.

Then C. started crying in sympathy with A. and I felt like the worst mother in the world, exposed in public. 

Back home, both girls took miraculously long naps.  I, too, slept off our first shoplifting experience.

Tags:   Been Caught Stealing · Jane's Addiction · Parenting · shoplifting · Whippersnappers1 Comment