My DD is 7.5 years old and I have just found out she has been stealing small things such as chewing gum and other sweets from shops. I caught her hiding a packet of chewing gum this evening when getting her in the bath - I noticed she was cagey about getting undressed and then I found it in her pocket. Then I remembered several times in the past when I have noticed she had sweets in her coat pocket when I picked her up from the childminders. She always said her friend who is also at the childminders gave them to her. I suppose I thought it was a bit odd at the time but didn't really think too much about it. It only happened a few times from memory.
Anyway this evening she admitted that she has stolen sweets from several shops, most of the time when she was with me. How did I not notice?
On top of this she has also been lying quite a lot recently, about silly things like washing her hands after she has been to the toilet. She wil lalways tell me she has but I know she hasn't because I haven't heard the water running. She will constantly deny her lie even after I have proved to her that I know she is lying.
How do I deal with this?
Overall she is generally fine in herself, she has been particularly stroppy recently but she's doing OK at school and is usually a pleasure to have around.