Thief

Landon is a thief. Really...he takes things that are not his. I don't know how to stop it, and it's starting to get a little out of hand. We have had long talks, taken away privileges, done time out, whipped him, read him the commandment out of the Bible, and read a story about stealing from his devotional. And every day, he steals something. He takes things from daycare, puts them in his pockets, and brings them home. I usually find them days later in the washing machine or in some random hiding spot of his. Things like plastic food, play money, legos, cars, sequins, pipe cleaners, etc. The other night I had a birthday present on my bedroom floor. After we put the boys to bed, I went to wrap it and couldn't find it anywhere. Landon was still awake so I asked him if he'd seen it (he was well aware that it was a birthday present)...he smiled, lifted up his pillow and handed it to me! After I sent a large zip-lock bag of stuff back to school with a note to his teacher, we decided that we will check his pockets each day before we leave school. Christopher checked his pockets today and he was clean. Later, he was sitting on the couch with his shoes on the floor. I saw a girl's hair barrette lying on the floor next to his shoes. After questioning him, we found out that he took it from school and hid it IN HIS SHOE!!! IN HIS SHOE!!! Seriously, what do I do?!?! Is this normal?