A five-year-old American boy really got himself in a sticky situation after stealing a pack of gum from a local Walmart. Not only did he steal, he lied about it to his mum, saying he found the gum out of the car.
Victoria Hinson new something was fishy, “I knew he wasn’t telling the truth because I don’t chew gum!” she wrote in a Facebook post.
While her little one finally fessed up, she wanted to teach her son the lesson that both stealing and lying are not OK.
So she called the police
“Yes. You read that right. I called the police on my 5 year old son,” Hinson explained. “I REFUSE to raise a child that gets away with telling lies & stealing!!”
She’s aware it might have been slight overkill, but in her eyes, she’d rather her son learn a hard lesson now rather than further down the track when the police would actually get involved.
“Did I overreact? Maybe so. But my point is if that you grow up getting away with telling lies & stealing then it gets far worse as you get older.”
She even snapped a photo of a cop car pulling up next to hers, ready to bust the gum thief:
A formal apology
The cops weren’t even the last of it. The next day, Hinson took her son back to Walmart and made him apologise directly to the store’s manager, Joe.
The adorable lad looks a picture of guilt:
All he wanted was a little Extra! *sorry*
How far is too far?
We have to admit, we love the lengths this resourceful mum went to in order to insure her son grows up knowing right from wrong. But it does make you question, how far is too far?
“Do I feel like a ‘bad mom’? Absolutely not!” Hinson wrote on Facebook, further explaining in a comment that she wish she’d had this sort of discipline herself.
“Without going into a lot of detail, as a young adult I got into a lot of trouble. I had to pay a hearty price & I’m not going to blame it on my upbringing but better choices could have been made. I’m making those choices each & every day. It was hard calling the police on him BUT I’m hoping he realizes how important this is & that he can’t do this again.”
Judging from the comments on her post, most mums agree with her. Commenters have shared sentiments like “WE NEED MORE MOMS LIKE YOU” and “You’re raising him right”.
Ultimately, sometimes love needs to be tough. Her son may even thank her one day - or maybe not…
