What to do with a Lying, Cheating, Stealing, Vandalizing Child?

November 25, 2006

Yes, Dad2Three, it's Duncan again, back with crimes more heinous than ever. I'm really not joking here, although I imagine that some day--far, far in the future--we will indeed chuckle over this. The crimes, all discovered in the past hour, are as follows:
Stealing: Entered our bedroom at some point Thanksgiving afternoon and took 2 toys from the "reward bag." Lying: Told his brother and sister that his cousin gave these to him.
Stealing: Entered our bedroom Friday night while we were gone (my parents were babysitting) and stole several packs of candy from the same reward bag. (Yes, he ate all the candy before bed last night.) Lying: Told his brother and sister that someone gave these to him. .) Cheating: In both cases above, he cheated by taking rewards that were not due to him.
Vandalism: Peed in the heat register in his room last night while we were gone. This is the discovery that led to figuring out all of the above crimes. When the heat kicked on and the smell emanated through his room, I realized what had happened. At that point, I started noticing candy wrappers and toy boxes, and all his crimes were revealed. (To his slight credit, he did confess to everything when asked by me.)

And so, wise parents, what would YOU do if your nearly six-year-old had committed the above acts of lying, stealing, cheating, and harming property? Tell me what would be your course of action, and perhaps we'll integrate some of your ideas into our own punishment-in-progress.