Penny and Her Marble

Henkes, K. (2013). Penny and her marble. New York: Greenwillow Books. 

As we grow up, we may not understand certain feelings until we experience them. What is guilt without knowing what causes it? So Penny is a simple girl whose imagination takes her to the most unimaginable places. On her daily routine of pushing Rose around in her stroller, she comes across something in her neighbor’s yard. Oh, it was so shiny and blue! But, if we find something, oh let’s say, in somebody else’s yard, does it now belong to us? Well, Penny sure thought it would be okay to keep her new, very shiny, very blue marble. But yet, the thought of Mrs. Goodwin coming to look for her marble made her realize that perhaps she shouldn’t have taken it without knowing who the marble belonged to in the first place. Her guilt does not let her rest. The question now was; how would she return this marble without anyone noticing? 

Penny could not sleep. She kept thinking about the marble.

This is called guilt. I know it too well. 

I was five years old the one time I stole something. I stole money from my dad so that I could buy something from the corner store. I was too young to realize that the bill that I took from my dad's wallet was big enough for me to buy a month supply of gansitos and frutsies, my favorite snacks of all times! My problem was that I didn't see me taking the money from my dad's wallet without permission as stealing. Quite frankly, I didn't know what in the world I was thinking. Well, when I took the money I took it to my bedroom and put it in my sock drawer so that I could wait to go to the store as soon as they opened it. When later that morning I saw my mom and dad going crazy looking for something I realized what they were looking for. I felt too guilty to go up to them and tell them what I already knew, that I had the money. So because I was afraid of getting reprimanded, I made another poor decision and didn't tell them I had the money. My mom knows me too well, she realized I was acting strange so she checked my room, my secret spot, which apparently wasn't as secret as I thought, and found the money. She made me apologize to my dad and from that moment I vowed to never steal again. And of course, I never did. The feeling of guilt that Penny felt is exactly how I felt when I realized I had made my parents worry. I felt even more embarrassed at the thought that I had let them down. Penny was lucky that she didn't actually steal anything, but the thought that she might have was enough to make her feel like a horrible person.. 

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