Painful lessons taught by my 2 year old!

The other day Cobi and I went to Target to buy a few things. It was a great date with just Cobi! We gathered everything we wanted to buy and headed to the check-out. Cobi has learned that we have to pay for things before we can take them/open them/eat them, etc. We paid for everything and walked out to the car..... Upon reaching the car Cobi pulled out a pair of dress shoes he had picked out for his sister, Shaelyn. The shoes had fallen in between him and the side of the cart and I hadn't noticed them at check-out so we didn't pay for them. Cobi immediately says, "Pay for it? We not pay for it". I honestly wanted to just put them in the van and drive away. I wanted to look at it as a "blessing from above". I didn't want to walk back into the store and pay the $8.00 they cost. I quickly wrestled the above emotions and decided that I want my Son to grow up knowing it's wrong to steal regardless of if it was "stolen" on purpose or on accident. So....we turned around and headed back into the store to pay for it! I went back to the same lady who had checked us out the first time and explained the situation. She gave me the oddest look, as if to say, why on earth didn't you just take them and GO!?! I told her I wanted my Son to learn right lessons from a young age. She did thank us for our honesty. As tough as it was to not run away with the free shoes it felt great to know that when Cobi is older I can honestly tell him we don't steal....regardless of the situation! I know he probably won't ever remember that day or those shoes, but I pray he'll learn how to act rightly!