I'm getting ready to leave for work and decide that it's time to call the girls in for lunch (6 and 4 years old). They've been playing outside in the culdesac with friends for a few hours and are usually at one of the neighbors homes playing with one or more of the kids that live in our little circle. (very family friendly neighborhood where we feel comfortable enough to let the kids play freely)
so, one of our neighbors is on vacation and all of our kids frequently play at their house when they're home but they all know not to be in their yard when no one is home. i call my girls and hear them answer, "coming daddy!", but their retort came from the vacationing neighbors backyard. as they get closer (a bit of a walk as they are 2 yards away in 1.5-2 acre plots) i notice that they're both holding cans of pepsi and trying to drink while they walk.
I ask the oldest one, mikaela, where she got the drink from and she replied, "from mikinley's house" in a matter of fact way. i said, "but mikinley is on vacation.....how did you get in!!?" my daughter then informed me that she and her sister gained access to the kitchen via the doggy door and then helped themselves to popsicles and soda.
what!!??
i send the girls inside to their bedrooms and follow up with a swift spanking and lecture on how they have just committed a FELONY and could go to jail for over a year if our neighbor calls the police (a little bit of fear never hurts to drive home the point
) i leave for work as my girls are banished to their rooms for the night.
I get a call about 20 minutes later from the wife telling that the neighbor just got home. She dragged the girls over to their house to apologize. My wife said that the youngest daughter, Emily, was crying the whole way to the house because she was afraid that our neighbor was going to have her taken to jail. The neighbor was super nice and understanding, as usual, but we worked out a community service plan for our girls to do around his house doing chores and whatnot.
I sure hope that this is not a sign of things to come with my girls
and that they've learned their lesson. I don't know if i could handle the future headlines if not:
COP KIDS HEAD UP NEIGHBORHOOD BURGLARY RING
so, one of our neighbors is on vacation and all of our kids frequently play at their house when they're home but they all know not to be in their yard when no one is home. i call my girls and hear them answer, "coming daddy!", but their retort came from the vacationing neighbors backyard. as they get closer (a bit of a walk as they are 2 yards away in 1.5-2 acre plots) i notice that they're both holding cans of pepsi and trying to drink while they walk.
I ask the oldest one, mikaela, where she got the drink from and she replied, "from mikinley's house" in a matter of fact way. i said, "but mikinley is on vacation.....how did you get in!!?" my daughter then informed me that she and her sister gained access to the kitchen via the doggy door and then helped themselves to popsicles and soda.
what!!??
i send the girls inside to their bedrooms and follow up with a swift spanking and lecture on how they have just committed a FELONY and could go to jail for over a year if our neighbor calls the police (a little bit of fear never hurts to drive home the point
) i leave for work as my girls are banished to their rooms for the night.I get a call about 20 minutes later from the wife telling that the neighbor just got home. She dragged the girls over to their house to apologize. My wife said that the youngest daughter, Emily, was crying the whole way to the house because she was afraid that our neighbor was going to have her taken to jail. The neighbor was super nice and understanding, as usual, but we worked out a community service plan for our girls to do around his house doing chores and whatnot.
I sure hope that this is not a sign of things to come with my girls
and that they've learned their lesson. I don't know if i could handle the future headlines if not:
COP KIDS HEAD UP NEIGHBORHOOD BURGLARY RING
.
