Stahlke Adoption

Teaching Moment

It's a constant source of tension between the children that they take each other's belongings without permission. This situation is worsened since they share two bedrooms and therefore have easy access to each other's things.

The kids go to great effort to hide their stuff from harm. Some carry the most precious items in their pockets or backpacks, while others find out-of-the way places for stashing things. I've turned over furniture and found toys perched inside the stuffing, placed there through convenient rips in the upholstery. The cornices above our windows get dusted only once a year, if we're lucky, and a whole host of items can be found there.

Worse, however, is when a child takes something and breaks or otherwise destroys it. When a bottle of the girl's makeup (liquid foundation) was not only taken, but spread over the bedspread, clothing, and the carpet, we had a SITUATION on our hands.
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A few days ago, I walked to our car for a grocery run and discovered that our stereo had been stolen. We filed a police report, but the theft was hours old and the cop told us the chance of recovery was virtually nil. The stereo was original to the 1996 car, and therefore our insurance won't replace it due to a high deductible. So for now, we have no means of playing music in that car.

This morning, upon returning to a regular school schedule, Kola asked me to play his favorite CD--Mama Mia. "Kola, we can't play music anymore. There's no CD player." After explaining the theft to him, he got very angry that someone had taken our stereo.

"Kola, it feels bad--doesn't it--when someone takes our things without asking? That's how others feel when we take their things without permission!"

posted by Stahlkes @ 10:32 AM