Caroline Verdon: When our children decide to test the boundaries...

I know he’s only two but I made him put it back and tried to explain as best I could that we had to pay for things and that taking things that aren’t ours isn’t right.

I’ve no idea if it registered with him and I imagine we’ll have to have the conversation a few more times.

Ant’s daughter is four and she took a toy egg the other week after he said he wouldn’t buy it for her. By the time he found out what she’d done, they’d left the shops already so it’s still sitting in his glove compartment.

It’s so hard to know what to do in these circumstances – do you go all out and use the situation to set an example or do you just have a quiet word and let it slide?

Jen lives in Chapel Allerton and she says went all out. When her son was six he stole a 4p strawberry sweet from Sainsbury’s: “Some people might think I went over the top but I took him to the police station and made him tell them what he’d done and they had a word with him.

“We then went to Sainsbury’s with four pence from his money box and he gave back the sweet and gave them the cash. He still remembers it to this day and he’s 19 now and touch wood has never been in trouble with the police!”

We’ve all tested the boundaries in some way or other as kids – I stole from the church when I was 12.

My parents ran a youth club and made the mistake of putting me in charge of the tuck shop and I basically ate my way through the stock and didn’t pay for it but the guilt got the better of me and eventually I owned up.

I also stole from my sister and that well and truly came back to bite me.

We used to go the the papershop on a Sunday morning with my dad and we’d get 20 pence to spend on sweets which back in the day meant 20 pick-n-mix.

I used to really like them. Really like them. We had Pound Puppies as kids – basically two soft toy dogs that sat in a toy dog basket. We had a pair each and I told her that if she didn’t feed them they’d die and so she used to give them half her Sunday sweets and miraculously an hour later when she’d go back to check on them they’d have eaten them. Joke’s on me though as 25 years later and she’s slim and I’m spherical.

For as bad as that was, and I’m aware it was pretty bad, I count my lucky stars I’m not Danielle from Holbeck!

She called us this week to say her toddler didn’t ever take sweets. Oh no. He stole a butterfly…from Tropical World: “When we discovered it, it was too late to take it back. I don’t know how he got it out of there because if he put it in his pocket surely he would have squashed it and it would be dead but this one was very much alive and was flying around in the car one minute and then it flew out of the open window the next. I couldn’t believe it.

“Obviously I was cross but at the same time sort of mystified – we still have no idea how he did it!”

And it seems Danielle really has her hands full as it’s not the only thing he’s taken: “When he was two we got home from shopping one day and next to him in his buggy, snuggled under his blanket was a joint of beef. I didn’t see him take it. I called the supermarket when we found it but they said not to worry so at least we got a free dinner from it!”That’s one way of looking at it! Also on the upside at least you know he could have a career as a slight of hand magician as he’s clearly stealthy! Perhaps we’ll see him on Britain’s Got Talent 2025?

Make a change to aid homeless

Blimey it’s cold. I’ve wanted snow for so long and I’ve made no secret of it.

I like the drama it brings – the school closures, the unexpected duvet days, but I also love the change to build a proper snowman and have a proper full on snowball fight.

I’m one of ‘those’ people and I shopped as though the armageddon was coming. The cupboards are stocked with tins and there’s bread in the freezer for if we run out of the fresh stuff. I am prepared. I’ve dug out my big coat with the additional fleece layer and I’ve got a pair of seriously warm gloves and hats and scarves in various colours to go with every outfit scenario.