Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
My 7-year-old son steals children's toys. It has already happened several times in 2 years. How to react, how to talk to the child? He is the only child and the only young child in the family. Thus, all pampered by everyone. Nothing is missing for him, his room is drowning in toys. He receives a pocket money of PLN 5 a week, which he collects into a piggy bank. We try to devote as much time as possible to it, especially on weekends, where we spend it actively. The thefts are not manifested in front of us. I can guess myself and just keep asking. I wonder what is the reason for this behavior. Please answer and advise on how to proceed.
Mrs. Ewa!
Originally the child doesn't know anything about the theft. He takes items he likes from where he finds them and leaves them when they are no longer interesting. He has yet to learn that this may be inappropriate and to recognize such situations. It is not an easy learning process, it takes a long time and even adults sometimes have problems with such diagnosis. I advise you to accept that your son is just learning this. On the other hand, by the age of 7, she probably already somehow "knows" that taking toys from children is not appropriate. It is likely that because he has a lot of toys and gets them easily, having and getting them has little emotional value to him. In such a situation, taking away can be treated as an attempt to increase the attractiveness of toys. It is important that this attempt turns out to be ineffective. Therefore, I advise you to treat the matter as calmly as possible, not to talk too much about it with your son, not to ask about the reasons for this, because he himself will not be able to answer anything meaningful. If he happens to take something from someone, the most effective way to say is that it is incomprehensible and unwise behavior and that the toy must simply be returned to the owner.
Pozdrawiam
Józef Sawicki
Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.
Józef SawickiA specialist in individual therapies with many years of psychotherapeutic experience. In clinical work, she deals with psychotic patients. He is interested in the philosophy of the East. More at www.firma-jaz.pl.
More advice from this expert
3.5 year old and a potty [Expert's tip]Husband's alcoholism and my aggression [Expert's tip]I am afraid to go to sleep [Adviceexpert]My Boyfriend's Ex-girlfriend [Expert Advice]Morbid credit taking [Expert Advice]Blushing [Expert Advice]Am i depressed? [Expert advice]Depression and bioxetin [Expert's tip]Dyspnoea [Expert Advice]Social phobia? [Expert advice]Husband's Internet Friendship [Expert's Advice]How to meet a girl? [Expert advice]How To Get Free From Masturbation? [Expert advice]I am nervous [Expert Advice]Trouble concentrating [Expert's tip]Trouble with weight loss [Expert's tip]Fear of spiders [Expert's tip]Fear of performance [expert's tip]I have fears [Expert's tip]My Child Steals [Expert Advice]My husband started drinking [Expert's tip]Husband burned out ?! [Expert advice]Low self-esteem and problems with aggression [Expert advice]Gluttony [Expert Advice]Cheated by her husband [Expert's tip]After my husband leaves [Expert's advice]A way to lie [Expert's tip]The forever screaming child [Expert Advice]Reminds me of the past [Expert's tip]I get involved too quickly [Expert's tip]