October 11, 2010

The Kleptomaniac

Kleptomaniac: A person evidencing kleptomania; first used in 1861.

Kleptomania: A word of Latin origin meaning a persistent neurotic impulse to steal especially without economic motive ; first used in 1830.

When Miracle was quite younger she would go through my purse (and anyone else's purse that was at arms' reach) and pull out the credit card and any other "plastic" she could find. She always proceeded to put them in her gazillian purses that she would carry around at any given time.

I always thought that was pretty cute and I was always able to find the cards and get them back from her. That little trait has carried her through to her current age of 16... errr, I mean 7 1/2!

So one day when she was four years old, we were at the market and she was thumbing through the gift cards at the end of the aisle. I didn't think anything of it, but a woman had witnessed her taking one of the cards off the cardboard backing and putting it in her pocket.

Of course the lady had to come and tell me, which I was very thankful for. Miracle, at the time, didn't realize that was something that you actually had to pay for and that it wasn't just a card to be played with. We resolved the issue at the time and haven't had an issue since.

So, once again we were at the market yesterday. Lo and behold, Miracle is once again at the gift card rack. I went about my business and when I went back to her she was zipping up her little red satin purse and I asked what she was doing.

"I did nothing, Mommy" was her canned reply. I asked another two times and she even opened up her wallet... I hate to call my own daughter a liar, but with that kind of reply, the gavel comes down and the word "GUILTY" comes to mind.

I trust that she actually didn't take one, but I reminisced just a little bit about that quiet little girl in the market that day getting a little lesson from the teacher that called her out. Since there hasn't been any issues since then, I'm thinking she made a lasting impression.

You just hope your children don't grow up with habits as those... Who knows where they will end up... County Jail? Prison??

I'm being dramatic, but still....