A Moral Dilemma

A moral dilemma I have personally faced was my child taking something from the store without paying for it. I remember my son was four years old and he kept talking about the candy he wanted to get while I was going thru the checkout. Little did I know he had picked up the candy and put it in his pocket while I was setting the groceries on the conveyor belt. When we got in the car and got down the street a bit, he said mom look I have candy!! I proceeded to ask him how he got the candy and he stated he put it in his pocket because he wanted it and I wouldn't buy it. Now the easy thing would have been to keep going down the street and talk to him about it when we got home. I didn't do that though I found the nearest u-turn and turned my car around and drove back to that grocery store. Walking in my son is in tears because he now knows this is serious, I walked him back the the register we checked out at and made him tell the cashier that he stole the candy and that he was sorry and would never do it again. The cashier was very stern with him on the consequences of him stealing and that a police officer could arrest him for committing a crime of that nature. I appreciate her for also giving him that speech. While it was embarrassing to both my son and I that we had to go back in the store and take that candy back, I believe it is a lesson he will always remember. He will tell that story still to his friend's because even though he is young it is now instilled in his mind of how wrong stealing something actually is.