Sunday 25 February 2018

My teenage daughter was caught shoplifting tonight. I'm beside myself, and could use any advice.


As the title indicates, I was called tonight by a large retailer's loss prevention department. My 14 year old was apprehended stealing $50 worth of merchandise. She had spent the night at a friend's, and unbeknownst to me, they ride bikes to this store. She is being charged, will have to show up to court, and this will go on her record. Cops said if she stays out of trouble until 18, we can file paperwork easily enough and have it expunged.We live in a nice house. Our kids have everything they need. They get weekly allowance for doing chores. The things she stole, they were mostly duplicates of what she already has at home. Point is, I can't figure out the motivation behind it. I'm ashamed, mortified, depressed over the whole situation. She is permanently banned from this store: if she goes back, she'll be charged with trespassing, and voila, there's charge #2 on her record.I'm at a loss. I took her phone and her laptop. Those she won't see again for quite some time. Obviously she'll not be seeing friends any time soon. I'll be damned if she's allowed to be alone in a store anymore (not that I knew she was there in the first place). I'm thinking I'll call a counselor tomorrow, because here's the thing: I don't think this is the first time. Ultimately she's a good kid (honor roll) but she's quick with lies, about stupid shit, and my gut tells me she's stolen little things before. Call it mother's intuition I guess.My husband doesn't seem to think it's that big of a deal; he's upset, but well, he was a bad kid. His brother was a bad kid. They stole stuff when they were young, got caught eventually, and never did it again. (I promise, both are upstanding citizens now).I just feel like a failure. Obviously I went wrong somewhere. Any advice on top of what I've already done, plan to do, would be greatly appreciated. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2ow6JEc

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