I have been having a really difficult time with Camryn telling the truth or just plain being BAD! I say I because I'm the one that is with her during her awake hours. I deal with stuff that never seems to happen when Daddy is around. She beats to her own drum & does NOT listen to anything I try to tell her. Some days I just wish Calgon would take me away because my head hurts from beating it up against the brick wall we shall name Camryn! I pray for the day that she will listen to me the first time I tell her something. =]
Let me set the stage. While Cam attends speech I usually take the rest of them to the zoo for an afternoon adventure. They LOVE visiting the animals & we make good use of our annual pass. Some days we will even return with Camryn so she can partake in our adventure too.
This one particular day Camryn was with us as we ventured throughout the zoo. Daddy cut our visit short by asking me to get the 'burb to the garage for some new tires. So there I was rounding them up & hurrying them out the exit. Camryn walked out first, then Lindsey, followed by Avery & then Brendan was just front of me. If you have ever been to the Palm Beach Zoo you would know that they have a gift store just before the exit. Don't all attractions do that?! They want you to spend even more money at their store before leaving to go home. Well to make matters worse this gift shop places a table full of clearance items outside the gift store entrance just before the zoo exit to lure people in. I do not pay that much attention to it because I do not need any more STUFF in our house so I just walk past it & out the exit.
Well apparently my children are NOT like me because on this particular day one of them, OK it was Camryn, decided to "visit" this table on the way out. Before I even realized it & after we cleared the exit Brendan says Mommy she has something from that table. I turn to see what he meant only to find a rather TALL man dressed sort of professional, black shirt & khaki's, coming out of the gift store & looking in front of me. That is when I saw Camryn hiding something in her hands. It all happened so fast, my first reaction was to say "What do you have?" & then "Bring it to me". She walks up to me coyly & hands me THREE packages of WebKinz trading cards. She stole them off that table! You guessed it, the man dressed professionally was security & saw the entire thing. He says "I'll take them". I felt absolutely horrible! My child just stole something right under my nose without me even realizing & was caught red handed!! What kind of mother am I?! UGH!
I started to walk out to the car & then said to myself "No, she is going in there to apologize". I walked the entire tribe back into the gift store while I stood Camryn by the cashier telling her to apologize. She flat out refused. I tried everything, told her she would not come back to the zoo which she was fine with. I did not know what I was going to do. Finally I used the one thing that works, Pete. Pete is a deputy that works with me & someone the tribe does NOT like. Not because he is a bad person but because he was stern with them when they needed it & they did not like it. SO there I was threatening her with calling Pete. Then & only then did she apologize. It's sad when threatening to call a police officer is the only thing that works! I really do not know what I am going to do with her. She can be so darn stubborn! I felt like such a bad mother, like none of the things I have taught her about right & wrong sunk in. I even cried on my way to see Daddy. I know every kid does this at least once in their life but even that does not make me feel better. I even sent the Palm Beach Zoo a message in Facebook to express my sincere apology over her actions. Here's what I sent them.
Subject: Sorry
I want to express my sincere apologies for my 4 year old daughter Camryn's moment of thievery at the
zoo gift store today. She grabbed 3 WebKinz card packs as we exited. Luckily her brother saw her do
it & told me. I returned them & after much coaxing she apologized. Sorry for her lapse in judgement!
I'm still trying to think of ways she can redeem herself the next time she visits.
Cathy Fulton
I really wanted them to know just how sorry I was. I just wish she would have kept her hands to herself & never even attempted...
the five finger discount...
Let me set the stage. While Cam attends speech I usually take the rest of them to the zoo for an afternoon adventure. They LOVE visiting the animals & we make good use of our annual pass. Some days we will even return with Camryn so she can partake in our adventure too.
This one particular day Camryn was with us as we ventured throughout the zoo. Daddy cut our visit short by asking me to get the 'burb to the garage for some new tires. So there I was rounding them up & hurrying them out the exit. Camryn walked out first, then Lindsey, followed by Avery & then Brendan was just front of me. If you have ever been to the Palm Beach Zoo you would know that they have a gift store just before the exit. Don't all attractions do that?! They want you to spend even more money at their store before leaving to go home. Well to make matters worse this gift shop places a table full of clearance items outside the gift store entrance just before the zoo exit to lure people in. I do not pay that much attention to it because I do not need any more STUFF in our house so I just walk past it & out the exit.
Well apparently my children are NOT like me because on this particular day one of them, OK it was Camryn, decided to "visit" this table on the way out. Before I even realized it & after we cleared the exit Brendan says Mommy she has something from that table. I turn to see what he meant only to find a rather TALL man dressed sort of professional, black shirt & khaki's, coming out of the gift store & looking in front of me. That is when I saw Camryn hiding something in her hands. It all happened so fast, my first reaction was to say "What do you have?" & then "Bring it to me". She walks up to me coyly & hands me THREE packages of WebKinz trading cards. She stole them off that table! You guessed it, the man dressed professionally was security & saw the entire thing. He says "I'll take them". I felt absolutely horrible! My child just stole something right under my nose without me even realizing & was caught red handed!! What kind of mother am I?! UGH!
I started to walk out to the car & then said to myself "No, she is going in there to apologize". I walked the entire tribe back into the gift store while I stood Camryn by the cashier telling her to apologize. She flat out refused. I tried everything, told her she would not come back to the zoo which she was fine with. I did not know what I was going to do. Finally I used the one thing that works, Pete. Pete is a deputy that works with me & someone the tribe does NOT like. Not because he is a bad person but because he was stern with them when they needed it & they did not like it. SO there I was threatening her with calling Pete. Then & only then did she apologize. It's sad when threatening to call a police officer is the only thing that works! I really do not know what I am going to do with her. She can be so darn stubborn! I felt like such a bad mother, like none of the things I have taught her about right & wrong sunk in. I even cried on my way to see Daddy. I know every kid does this at least once in their life but even that does not make me feel better. I even sent the Palm Beach Zoo a message in Facebook to express my sincere apology over her actions. Here's what I sent them.
Subject: Sorry
I want to express my sincere apologies for my 4 year old daughter Camryn's moment of thievery at the
zoo gift store today. She grabbed 3 WebKinz card packs as we exited. Luckily her brother saw her do
it & told me. I returned them & after much coaxing she apologized. Sorry for her lapse in judgement!
I'm still trying to think of ways she can redeem herself the next time she visits.
Cathy Fulton
I really wanted them to know just how sorry I was. I just wish she would have kept her hands to herself & never even attempted...
the five finger discount...
