Trey and I went to our neighborhood KROGER store today to buy some ingredients for an African meal. As we were leaving, Trey stopped by one of the toy machines in the entrance and opened the hinged door to see what was inside. He was surprised to find a toy in a clear plastic case. Trey (not realizing that I was quietly observing him from behind) immediately tried to push the toy back up into the glass globe. When that didn’t work, he pushed the toy as far back as he could in the opening, quickly closed the metal hinged door on the machine, and then started to exit the building.

At that point I stopped Trey and told him that I was proud of him because he was honest and didn’t keep the toy for himself when he hadn’t put any money into the machine to pay for it. At that moment, one of the KROGER employees (in the photo) entered the store, pushing several grocery carts. I told the man how proud I was of Trey and went on to explain what he had done with the toy. The man said, “I’m going to get that boy a sticker!”

I asked the employee if I could take his picture with Trey. The man (who was very tall) knelt down beside Trey and shook his hand. Later that night, I asked Trey to tell Granddaddy what he had done at KROGER with the toy that he found in the machine. He replied, “I was honest ‘cause I put the toy back.”

How many three-year-olds would willingly put back a free toy? (Not many that I know!). I would like to publicly congratulate William and Heidi for the way that they have taught Trey to behave in a store. Not only is he honest, he NEVER begs or cries for any item that he sees. Sometimes he will take something off a shelf and look at it for a few minutes, but he always puts it back without complaining. He is a JOY to take shopping!

“Granny Sarah”