I questioned my two teenaged boys about the ever-growing list of missing articles and I received the usual answer, "I don't know". I made a rule that none of their friends were allowed in the house but when I wasn't home, they let their friends in anyway. I was trying to pinpoint who was stealing our belongings!
I was constantly going into tailspins each time I noticed more items missing. A horrible, sick feeling would come over me every time I walked around the house taking an inventory. My oldest son started skipping school with his friends and would bring them over to the house. My middle son would tell me that so-and-so was here. I had a feeling that my son and his friends were stealing our belongings.
It got to the stage of me being in constant worry while I was at work, not knowing whom he will bring into the house and what will be stolen next. I felt absolutely helpless and violated. I knew I had to be at work so I got trapped in a living hell.
The showdown occurred when I caught my son up in a lie. I noticed an item had disappeared sometime during the day. He was out when I got home from work and his girlfriend had come over to meet him. I told her that the item had got stolen during the day. My son arrived shortly thereafter and I confronted him about the missing item. He said it was over at his girlfriend's house (he didn't know she was sitting in another room). I immediately asked her if this was true. She said that the item was not at her house and she was not going to lie for him any more. I told my son that I cannot have him under my roof because of his stealing and he'd better get out!
I exercised tough love and told him to get out of the house and not come back until he agreed to go to a detox center. I was in contact with his girlfriend and she saw him off and on during his absence. She worked hard on convincing him to get help and it took him 4 days to make the call.
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