I Suspected My Kids Were Stealing from Me — yet the Hidden Camera Revealed the Person I Least Expected

Then one Tuesday, $300 disappeared in a single night.

At dinner that evening, I studied my children’s faces like someone searching for cracks in glass.

My son kept staring down at his plate. My daughter shrugged too quickly when I mentioned it. My youngest looked at me like I’d switched languages mid-sentence.

“Kids,” I said, carefully placing my fork down, “if you ever need money, you ask Dad or me. You don’t take it. Stealing from family isn’t okay. Not in this house, not ever.”

They glanced at one another, then back at me, expressions completely blank.

But blank expressions don’t always equal innocence. And I wasn’t ready to dismiss the possibility.

“Mom, we didn’t take anything,” my daughter insisted, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“I haven’t touched your wallet,” my son added, a hint of defensiveness in his voice as he finally met my eyes.

My husband, Peter, lowered his fork.
“They know you won’t really discipline them,” he said, leaning back casually. “That’s the whole problem. They’re testing you because you let them.”