ROCK HILL, South Carolina-

I remember when I was a kid, the week leading up to Christmas day was agonizing. In terms of a child’s mind and the desire for instant gratification, it was as if the entire month of December crawled by. First, the tree would go up in early December, then the packages would slowly trickle in. There were presents coming from the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and of course the Santa factor. On December 10^th five packages resided under the tree, by the 20^th there were 10, and by Christmas morning 50+ for everyone in the family. The kids always had each of their own targeted, the size, shape, weight, wrapping paper, and exact location locked in their memory banks.

At some point most kids had their hands in the cookie jar (wrapped around their own presents) long before Christmas morning ever arrived. Most kids, myself included, would shake, rattle, and roll the ones we suspected were the “big ones”. Maybe even on a rare occasion, when no one was home, the courage arose to peel off one side of tape and sneak a peek. But usually that was pushing it. After all, if Santa caught wind of such a desperate and daring act, he may have skipped your house altogether.

So what happens when the temptation gets to be too much? Pretty easy, you just open the present you want early. And that’s exactly what a South Carolina boy did. He was specifically told by his great-grandmother not to open any presents, but this rebellious 12 year old didn’t listen, because he knew he was getting a Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and by God, he wanted it right away.

The boy’s 27 year old, single mother said she had had it with his behavior, saying that he had stolen money from her, shoplifted, punched a police officer, and was nearing expulsion from school. She asked her son about the missing Game Boy and he denied knowing anything about it. Then she threatened to call the police and he fessed up and returned it. Despite returning the stolen goods his mother still called police and had her delinquent son arrested. He was charged with petty larceny but not jailed. The mother said she hoped the arrest would scare some sense into her son.

The Moral of the story: If you have a son who has shoplifted and punched a police officer, maybe the damn Game Boy should have never been under the tree in the first place.

© 2009 StrangeRush.com

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