My 8 year old stole my savings and wasted them on candy
Please don't judge my son or me for this, I just want to be able to talk it off my soul.
So I had been planning the trip of my lifetime for years, finally visting the US. It's never been possible financially but I have been setting aside 50 Euros here, 100 Euros there, and was up to 1,600 by now. Not nearly enough, but I was getting there and had reason to believe I could make it happen next summer.
We don't own a safe, don't usually need one, and that's where burglars would look first anyway. Had a great hiding place for the money no one knew about, except my family, of course.
Well, it turns out that was a mistake. Couple of weeks ago my eight year old son decided to steal it and spend almost everything on candy and soccer trading cards. So he did, and I just found out yesterday.
"Hold on, how can you spend upwards of a thousand Euros on candy and cards?!?", you might say. Well, he took good care of his many friends as well, also gifted them money, it seems. Things are not entirely cleared up yet.
Anyway, a friend's dad saw him pay with a 200€ bill and told us. I checked the stash, it was empty, we confronted him, and he gave me the few pitiful bucks that were left.
I am aware it was a mistake to store the money like that, to have the kids know where it is, and he seems to be a wannabe criminal in the making. Please don't tell me that. I know.
My wife is a little bit to blame because she made him think we're well off, despite being a totally average middle class family. Probably due to stupid YouTubers he likes to watch he is apparently a bit obsessed with the question of being rich, and my wife told him we're situated well. He took it as "we're millionaires" and argued that 1,600 Euros is basically nothing to us, what's the big deal.
It's not just that the money's lost. It's shaken me in my core that he did this….he's usually…..well, he's lively and sometimes a bit hot headed but a very smart and nice young lad. Much more easy-going than our 13 year old, who has never done anything like THIS. Also there have to be stern consequences which at the same time have to be realistic. No more media time till he's 14 is not doable, for example.
I'm still wrapping my head around all this. Just needed to get it off my chest…again, please don't judge any of us for this disaster, it's already horrible and soul-shattering.
Thanks for reading <3