Dishonesty and lying

Have five year old who has started to sneak into his brother's room and take things...puts them in his pocket....then denies he has been in or has anything....will look you straight in the eye and is ever so convincing he has nothing...will let you search for the missing item....I have let his brother go into this little one's room and take something from his things....makes no difference....he just wants something...he gets it. He is a fun loving, very active and happy little boy....he just always wants what his brother has....and has begun to be sneaky and is not truthful. I am worried what this will lead to if we do not nip it now but I am not sure how to handle it or what to do.  Thank you.

[margypops]

How old is his brother? and are you sure it is the 5 year old  doing this, I think you maybe need to observe the dynamics as it may not be him ,If you are sure it is , ask some pertinent questions like what was missing and why it was missing.

[Gmomtwo]

Definitely the 5 year old is doing this....I have witnessed it myself...brother is 7....the 5 year old denies anything is missing when asked if he has seen the item....yet he has it! Little stinker!

[RockRose]

My middle son was like this.  It wasn't exactly stealing,  in that he would put it back when he was done carrying it around.  He was like a magpie bird - everything that was shiny or cool,  he'd have in his nest.   At any given time he'd have all the nail clippers in the house in his pocket - he called them "clippernails" and they would rattle around.  He is still really into cool status/gadgety things,  and label clothes and he could be an electronics shopping consultant - he knows all the widgets and what you should expect to pay for them.

But also,  like your son,  he could lie V E R Y convincingly.  I could tell in a flash if my other two were fibbing,  not this one.  

He's 18 now and I'm glad to say he did grow out of this.  You should see his room - PACKED with interesting stuff all very very neatly arranged like a museum.  Cool posters,  license plates,  gadgets.  Now that he has the money from working,  and the freedom to choose all these cool things he does it in  a positive way.

Rather than having him have to steal things from his brother,  can he earn things that he wants?

Best wishes.  My guess is he'll grow up and out of this.

[Gmomtwo]

Happy your son is doing well...got a chuckle out of the "museum" room.

It is so hard to figure out as the 5 year old has all the "big" things as his brother...it will be the marble found on the playground that he "borrows" and then says he doesn't have.  His pockets are never empty but fortunately they are filled with his own treasures.

As for the older brother ...as honest as they come....couldn't lie (yet) if he wanted to do so.

Thanks for the encouragement!