Thief!

I'm signing Gage out of school today, watching him play while he doesn't know I'm watching.  At first, he was pointing to all the letters in the kids' names on their star chart on the wall. I was so proud.  Then he reached over this bigger kids shoulder and SNATCHES his stuffed alligator. I watch for a moment, thinking what a FART!  Then he plays keep away and when the kid goes to grab it, he throws it under the table. The moment I saw him throw it, I said very quietly and VERY sternly "Gage Ryan- you give that back right now!"  He freezes and then the chin quivers, the eyes well up and he's crying without making a sound.  He grabs the alligator and gives it back to the boy and I can see his hands are shaking.  OK- I wasn't going for complete terror. I was just trying to let him know that someone saw him even though he thought no one was watching.  I feel bad, but that was NOT ok. I'm not backing down now.  He hands it back and says he's sorry.  His teachers think I've embarrassed him, but this is how he reacts when he knows that what he did was wrong.  He doesn't do things like that very often, but he's broken hearted when gets caught.  He cried all the way home, saying "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. It's not nice to take other people's things. I'm so sorry Mama."  Tears and snot are everywhere and I think he learned a lesson. We came in to Daddy sitting in the chair (he was home with a migraine today) and Gage tells him "I taked the alligator! I'm sorry!"  The sobbing begins again.  Long talk about taking care of other people and respecting their things, and he's all better now.  *sigh* Growing a kid is hard. Growing up a kid is even harder.