When one dad realised his son had stolen goods from the shop, he decided he wasn’t going to scream and shout.
Reddit profiler, userbelowisamonster, decided to punish his son in a way that may teach him a lesson for later in life.
Userbelowisamonster revealed his five-year-old son had taken chewing gum from their local store without paying.
When they both got to the car the little boy innocently offered his dad some gum, being five and all, he thought it made perfect sense to ask.
But dad realised what had happened, and decided to act quickly so his son would not think it was OK to do this in future.
Parenting, just making it up as we go. Theft edition... from Parenting
Dad's choice of punishment?
To teach his son about the real-life consequences of theft, one which isn't related to grounding or taking something from him.
And dad came up with the perfect solution.
His son had to complete odd jobs around the house, for instance, cleaning his room and picking up toys, until he had worked off the price of the gum, which also included a 50c fine for the act of stealing.
Dad said: "I'd rather he learn them [rules] now than steal as a teenager and face hefty fines, community service, or even jail time."
What do you think of this dad's form of punishment? Would you do it too, or just return to the store and pay for the goods?
