"I Didn't Know It Was Called Stealing."

We are getting some furniture from my parents' apartment today, so yesterday I was doing some cleaning/rearranging to make room for it. As I cleared off a card table in my dining room (which functions as a meeting room for the church), I noticed that the gift bags for shut-ins were too light. They were too light because someone had taken the candy, puzzle books, and other goodies out of them.

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Since there are only two of us living in the house and I hadn't touched them, it was pretty obvious Daughter had been into them. I asked her, and after the briefest of denials, she acknowledged what she'd done. I pointed out she had stolen the items out of them. I have always comforted myself by telling myself that many kids with similar backgrounds/challenges, at least she doesn't steal. She didn't try to minimize what she'd done, and seemed disturbed by it. Finally she said, "I didn't know it was called stealing."

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I believe that. She knows stealing is wrong. She was outraged with UB when the money went missing from Dad's checking account. Somehow, she never made the connection that removing everything from those gift bags was stealing. Once again, I am reminded that her brain is missing certain connections. Once again, I find myself wondering what the future holds for her.