[Andi]

Little boys will be little boys. My husband was always so good with our 2 children in how to deal with these infractions. The first thing he would do is make our children go to the neighbor and apologize to them. This is like making them admit outright that their actions were wrong and there is something about admitting to someone outside the family that us a little more tough. Then I would have him do chores either for you or the neighbor to "earn" the payback for his share of the damage. This will teach him the value of his mistake, rather than just an easy payoff from mom. Maybe his chores could be something you are involved with him in some sort of way and you can have your "discussions" about good behavior. My parents always "bailed" my brother out of little messes and as a result the next time it was something a bit bigger. I watched that and decided that I would make the little messes a big learning lesson in order to stop things before they got bigger. Tony is a little boy that is learning about growing up, I know you will handle this well and he will grow to be a terrific young man some day. Good luck mom!