little leaf
Avid Member
its no secret our home has aways been open to special needs animals, but our home is also the "hang out" for many of my kids friends - many do not have the best home life, despite this, we very seldom have any issues with these kids, they even come here when the kids are not home, just to have someplace to go that can be safe, and many times, I have had the parents tell me their kids seem to be showing more respect , and better behavior - this makes me happy, I do not treat most of these kids any different than my own- if you are here, you do not leave messes, if you get things out in the shop, you put it away, ect... and these kids are good kids, they jump right in with chores, splitting wood, what ever we are doing, we will not tolerate foul mouths, disrespect, or stealing....and this is my issue, there is a child who sadly, has about the worse situation - he Dad is in prison for drug dealing and a home meth lab, her Mom, well, yeah- she is being raised by her GRANDMOTHER who does her best , she is a good woman, but is raising 3 kids ! anyway, this girl is starting to steal so badly from my daughter - my daughter (and I ) do not want to "ban" her from our house, so far its clothing mostly - but then the "girl" says these things are hers - and comes up with all kinds of stories of how she came to have these things- there is NO doubt these things belong to my daughter ( like the Marco Island T-shirt I bought for my daughter while we were in Marco Island, so its special to myself & my daughter ) I don't know what to do - they have been friends for a long time, this is not a small child - she is 15 - and has been a family friend for about 8 yrs - my daughter is going to tell her if she does not return ALL her things , she will never be aloud over again- but then I fear this child will be "lost" to society - I have worried about this girl for many years, and look at her as almost a daughter - but I will NOT tolerate stealing and lies - UGH ! its hard enough to raise good kids, I am glad so many teens think we are "the cool house" - lol but I just do not know how to get threw to this child and as she gets older- it only is getting worse - my kids are not perfect, who is - lol but I just dont know what to do