Grocery Store Score and a Little Rolo Theif!

I love it when you go to the grocery store to use your coupons and you end up saving way more than you had anticipated!

I stopped by Kroger early this morning to pick up a few things, when I noticed a display of Old Spice and Gillette body washes on sale for $1.50. Now, every couponer knows that there is a PLETHORA of coupons out there for these products, so I knew I could get them for a good deal (as if I even need any more men's body wash...I have a whole stock pile of the stuff!).

So after going to pick up my daughter from school (and back home to retrieve my coupon binder), I headed back out to Kroger to get the body wash. I had 2 $1.00 off coupons for each of the brands as well as a BOGO for each. So, with the body washes being $1.50 each, I was expecting to only have to pay $1.00 for all four...pretty good deal, right? I also promised my sleepy, fussy 3 year old that she could have the Cheetos she was begging for if she would just walk through the store nicely (my fuse has been very short lately and a tantrum would have made me explode! So, the Cheetos was a necessary compromise!).

So, we got to the check out with the 4 body washes and a snack bag of Cheetos that were, with tax, $1.06 (I know...for shame!!!). When the cashier rang everything up with the coupons, she said, "Well, it looks like we owe you $2.54! I was like, huh? How? I mean, sure I used coupons, but I also had another purchase. She was just as confused as I was, but didn't seem to care. If the register said it, it was so. And I wish I could explain to you what my receipt said. I was really confused reading it as well. I didn't argue and gladly accepted my $2.54 credit in cash!

However, my giddiness over just walking out of the store with money back in my pocket was short lived. As I turned to gather up my little darling, I noticed her quickly stuffing a handful of Rolo candies in her mouth and the wrappers back in the candy stand! I was mortified (not only by her actions, but also by the price of those stinkin' candies! $0.97!)! Sure she's tried to steal candy before, but I've always quickly thwarted those attempts and explained that we do not take things from the store without scanning them and paying for them! But the fact that she was trying to stash the evidence before I turned around was just baffling to me. How did she know to do that? When I scolded her, she just looked at me like it was a perfectly normal thing to pick up candy off the shelf at the store and just eat it! I might even agree with her...I mean, she is just 3. But then stashing the evidence? Wow! Anyone who argues that people aren't born with a sin nature has to be just absolutely blind! Just the other day we had to have a long discussion about what the truth is, because she lied right to my face...she's 3! I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but she is in fact, my little angel. It's hard watching her do wrong. I guess I should just get used to it though. No one is perfect and my daughter is human and WILL make mistakes. I'm trying very hard right now to pray through how to handle and discipline, early, these tests from her. I try to keep in mind her age. She's still learning. But she's also smart and knows what she can get away with and what mama really fumes over (pooping in the floor, right in front of me out of spite, for one!).

How did you handle the early years when your child disobeyed or started doing wrong things that needed a consequence that could only be delivered by you?