Teen Steals Money From Mom's Purse, She Teaches Him a Lesson – Story of the Day

A teenager steals money from his mother's purse and when she finds out she decides to teach him a lesson.

Esther had a problem on her hands, a huge problem. The busy mother-of-two had started noticing that she often had less cash than she'd thought, but the idea that she was being robbed had never crossed her mind.

Thanks to the recently installed nanny cam, she now knew what was really going on, and it broke her heart. Her 15-year-old son Mark was taking money out of her purse, and he'd been caught red-handed on camera. What should she do? And then Esther decided to teach him a lesson...

Three months after her daughter's birth, Esther had returned to work and had hired a nanny. Even though the woman seemed reliable and had excellent references, Esther secretly had a series of nanny cams installed around the house.

She wanted to know how her daughter was being treated in her absence and ended up learning a lot more about her son Mark's behavior.

Esther had checked the videos of the day one Friday evening and was stunned to see her son picking up her bag in the lounge. In the video, Mark looked around furtively before fishing out her wallet and extracting a $20 bill.

How would you feel if someone stole from you or violated your trust in other hurtful ways?

Over the next week, Esther saw her son dip into her purse nearly every day. She knew she had to confront him and correct his behavior. If he thought stealing from his mother was acceptable, what might he do in the future?

That night, Esther decided to broach the subject at dinner. "Darling," she said to her husband Edward. "Did you take $20 from my purse?"

Edward looked at Esther bewildered. "No, hun, you know I'd never do that without asking you first!"

"Well, it's just that I know I had an extra $20 and now it's gone." she turned to her son Mark, "Hun, did you take the money?"

"No, mom," said Mark in a shocked voice, "I'd NEVER take money from your purse!"

"That's complicated," Esther said frowning. "I'd hate to think Mrs. Doille would take money that wasn't hers!" Esther looked her son in the eyes, but he stared back innocently. She dropped the subject, but her heart sank.

Mark HAD taken the money. She'd seen it with her own eyes, and now he'd lied about it too, even though she had hinted that an innocent person might be blamed. It was time to teach Mark a lesson.

The next morning, after Mark left for school, she went into his bedroom and took the cord for his PlayStation and the charger for his phone. That evening, Mark was turning his room upside down. "MOM!" he screamed, "Did you take my charger?"

Esther walked up to his room and stood in the doorway. "What's the matter hun?" she asked innocently.

"I can't find my charger or the cable for my PlayStation anywhere! Did you put them away somewhere?" Mark asked desperately.

"Sorry, love, no! You know I don't touch your things." Esther said. "Maybe you misplaced it?"

"It was right here!" Mark cried, "I know it was!"

"You really need to take better care of your things, Mark," Esther said sternly, "Money doesn't grow on trees!"

Two days later, Mark's prized gamer headphones that he'd saved up for went missing. "Mom," Mark said, "Someone is taking my stuff!"

"Nonsense, Mark!" Esther said sternly. "You're just careless and untidy! Who could possibly take your stuff? Who'd even want it?"

"But mom, I had those headphones YESTERDAY!" Mark cried.

"Mark, honestly, who'd take them? Me? Your father? Mrs. Doille? Aren't we all honest people in this house?" asked Esther.

Mark looked confused but didn't answer. Over the next week, several other small objects vanished from his room. "Mom," Mark said, desperate, "I have to find out who's taking my things. I feel like I can't trust anyone!"

"Goodness," cried Esther, raising her eyebrows, "you mean you think someone's invading your privacy, taking what belongs to you? Really?"

Mark stared at his mom, and color rose in his cheeks. "Mom..." he said, "look, there's something I need to tell you, but you're going to be so mad at me..."

"You know you can tell me anything, Mark," Esther said encouragingly.

"Mom, you know that money you asked about?" Mark mumbled.

"The money that went missing from my purse?" Esther asked.

"Yeah...Well, see, the thing is..." Mark was twisting his fingers together, "I kinda took it..."

"You 'kinda took it'?" asked Esther. "You either took it or you didn't."

"I took it," Mark said, "I took your money, mom, and I lied about it. I'm sorry."

"Well, Mark, I'm glad you told me. It's very unpleasant when we can't trust the people around us, isn't it," Esther said. "You've set my mind at ease."

The next day, Mark was relieved to find all his belongings lying on his bed when he came home from school. He had learned what it felt like to be on the other side, to feel that his privacy and his trust had been violated. From then on Mark became the most honest of kids, thanks to his mom.

What can we learn from this story?

1. Before you act, put yourself in the other person's shoes: How would you feel if someone stole from you or violated your trust in other hurtful ways?

2. Trust is the precious belief we place in the hands of people we love.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who discovered that his boss' gruff manner hid a heart of gold.

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