Coming back to this issue of being willing to acknowledge to yourself when you are doing something wrong, or what the wrong thing is, yes it is a reality that everyone does wrong things. Yes,nit is a reality that at some point everyone lies about something.
For some people, knowing that seems to open the door to doing whatever you like and somehow justifies it - so as long as you can say, 'many people do it' or 'this isn't as bad as murder' it somehow feels okay, and people can still think of themselves as good people.
I think we should be more honest with ourselves about what isn't just lying, but lying which results in stealing. It's up to the business to set the price for the service or product they sell - it's not up to customers to decide it's too expensive and so they will only pay a lower price,nor their choosing and that the business should be glad to be getting any of their money, especially if they buy a few coffees too. The customer has a choice whether to attend and pay the prices asked or not to. No one has to go to soft play or the theme park and no one is entitled to go and saying 'if we paid full price it would be £50!' As if that justifies lying and stealing. Yes, it's £50 but you don't have to go. Like everything else if you don't want to pay or can't pay, you just don't go.
Is it sanctimonious and preachy to say lying about a child's age is theft or wrong? I think it's just being honest. I acknowledge that lots of people do this, but that doesn't make it right or the action not theft. I just think people should be honest with themselves - if you are involved in stealing from soft play or theme parks, be big enough to acknowledge it for what it is.....I suspect that's a bit uncomfortable for lots of people, but I think we need to take responsibility and recognise and acknowledge what our own actions really are. If we steal and don't care, at least have the guts to say it's that,my rather than coming up with nonsense to suggest it's not stealing. So what if a three year old can't go on all the rides or might be napping during most of the day.....totally irrelevant in terms of altering the fact that the business has set a price for that child and by choosing to lie and pay and lower price, the business isn't being paid the price they charge for that age group - same as if you buy a large drink but only pay for a small one - theft, plain and simple.