I was busted stealing from my 10yo's piggy bank - but I'll do it again anyway

"In my eyes, the money was really mine because I gave it to her in the first place," the mum exclusively tells Kidspot.

After digging around my handbag, purse and even the inside of the car for about fifteen minutes without luck, I decided to raid my 10-year-old daughter, Evie’s money box for some gold coins.

I had been desperate to get my car washed for weeks and finally had the time (just not the cash) to operate the local car wash that was still only operating with coins. So, I did what I needed to do and sourced the money from elsewhere.

But of course, with my hand literally in the money box, I was caught by Evie who had come into her room to get something.

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"I've been taking money for years"

And let’s just say, Evie was not happy when she found me. In fact, she quickly flew into a rage when she saw my hand exit the money box with a pile of one- and two-dollar coins, demanding to know, why I was stealing from her.

While, I suppose, technically speaking, I was stealing from her, in my eyes the money was really mine because it was me who paid it to Evie upon completion of her chores in the first place.

I mean, I don’t have to pay her for helping around the house and many parents don’t.

Plus, the truth is, I have been taking money from her moneybox for years now (I’ve just never been caught).

My daughter said it's the principle of it, not the money

To me, taking some coins here or there from Evie’s moneybox isn’t really stealing because I usually pay her back, or make up for it somewhere down the track anyway. I also never really take that much, it is just if I need the odd coin for something and it is hard now, in a pretty much cashless society, when you actually need some coins quickly- kid’s moneyboxes are a saviour.

And the odd coin here or there, isn’t like I’ve withdrawn her life savings. I’d never take any significant amount; it is purely just about the inconvenience of never having cash in my purse and Evie always having it in her moneybox – it’s logical.

According to Evie though, her moneybox is also her treasure chest, which not only contains money but the money that was going to buy her an indoor skydiving experience, something she had been saving to buy for months.

Admittedly, she had been working hard to save and had also been doing a lot more around the house to earn extra money and as a parent, this work ethic was good to see, even if it was the money and the skydiving that inspired it.

But the truth is, it wasn’t enough to make me feel guilty about what I was doing.

Image: iStock

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"I'm going to be extra vigilant about not getting caught in the future"

Once Evie had calmed down, I sat her down for a chat. She explained to me that it wasn’t even about the money, that for her, it was because I had taken it without asking and stealing isn’t something you should do, especially to someone you love.

And I had to agree, she was right about this. It also made me realise what a beautiful girl she was, that for her, it was the ethics behind it, rather than the money itself.

I apologised to Evie for taking money from her moneybox without asking her first, but I quickly followed this up by telling her that sometimes these types of things happened; that as adults you have to pay interest on loans, or fees for bank accounts, that life is sometimes just a bit unfair, especially when it comes to money.

Ultimately, we came to an arrangement- Evie would wash and vacuum the car and I would put the coins back that I had taken for the car wash, plus give her an extra two dollars next time I had one.

What I didn’t tell her though was that I would probably take the two dollars from her moneybox for that payment.

I also thought it was better left unsaid that I had no intention of not taking the odd coin here or there when I needed to in the future, just that I’d be extra vigilant about not getting caught.

Originally published as I was busted stealing from my 10yo's piggy bank - but I'll do it again anyway