Tell me what to do!!!!!!

[Oceanbum]

We have a somewhat awkward situation here and I don't know how to handle it. About 10 days ago my daughter's Gameboy came up missing. I thought she had just misplaced it. We went through the house, the car, between couch cushions, under beds, you name it and we looked there. The day it disappeared my daughter had a friend over. Well, yesterday my husband's cell phone charger came up missing. It was there in the morning when he left for work and gone when he came home. The only people in the house yesterday were the 4 of us, the babysitter and this same friend of my daughter's. When her friend left I noticed she had my daughter's purse with her. I asked her about that and she said her friend asked if she could borrow it because it was "so fashionable and went so well with her outfit." I got to thinking about this whole situation and it made me real uneasy. I have thought all along that this girl took the Gameboy. That was about 10 days ago. Well, those things come with chargers. It certainly has lost it's charge by now. So my thought is she saw the cell phone charger laying on the counter and thought it was the Gameboy charger and took it. She needed someplace to hide it to sneak it out of the house and borrowed the purse. Does this sound WAY out of line or does it make as much sense as I think it does?!!!

Now, my question. How do I handle this situation? If she did steal from us I don't want her in my house again. And I would really prefer my daughter not hang around with her. If she didn't take it what will the false accusation do to their friendship? And the fact that I have to face the mother at school functions all the time? What do I do?! HELP!!!!!!!!

[livetogarden]

How old is this girl and how well do you know the mother? I'm wondering because maybe you know how the mother would take to you asking her about these things. I always try to have an open mind about my kids and people know I would be willing to listen if another parent has something they need to ask me. Kids are immature and even the best ones do stupid things at times and my husband and I have always tried to keep that in our minds. On the other hand...I have approached a couple parents I knew pretty well about things I knew were true only to have those parents defend their kid to the end. So it's always a gamble. If I noticed my kid had something I knew wasn't theirs I would be finding out where and how they got it. Maybe she has told her parents your daughter gave it to her.
Not sure I helped.
Cath

[Oceanbum]

Thanks for the reply, Cath! My daughter is 11 and her friend is 12.

Now I have to admit to my stupid assumption. I thought all the facts were pointing at this girl. We found the Gameboy tonight in my younger daughter's room. It was in a makeup bag in her room. DUH!!! Should have thought to look there!! I am SO glad I never approached this girl or her Mom. I would have never been able to look them in the eye ever again!!! The cell phone charger is still missing but I'm sure it will turn up. I can't imagine anyone wanting a cell phone charger bad enough to steal it - especially if you don't have a cell phone.

It just shows you how someone can really be innocent until proven guilty.

[Teresa]

Glad it worked out so well . . . . and very glad it wasn't the friend.  There are kids who will steal from their friends and I hope you and I never have to deal with the situation.  We had to deal with a family with 3 kids who routinely broke our things without regret or responsibility.  I had to sever ties with that family and it wasn't pretty.

Now I just wish I could find my daughter's gameboy.  I know nobody stole it.  I confiscated it and put it away somewhere safe.  Ya know if I could find that safe place where I put things, there's no telling what treasures I'd find in it!!!

[EagleEye]

Glad you found your gameboy. I'm sure the charger will turn up. It's always a gamble, dealing with kids things don't ya think?
Just be glad your not dealing with my ex wife. No gamble there. She hung up before I got to tell her what I was going to tell her. Probably just as well.
The kids are the only thing that matters!

Steve

[livetogarden]

  Our house was broken in to shortly after we moved in to it while we were on vacation. We bought our house after only 4 months of marriage and nearly every cent we had saved up went to the down payment and we didn't have much extra money for quite some time since our house payment was much more than our rent had been. So when we got the insurance settlement from the items stolen it didn't come close to enough to replace what we had lost (back in the days when there was only 1 kind of policy...they paid you what an item was worth at the time of loss which was never very much in their opinion). Anyway, my dad felt sorry for us and gave us an extra TV and stereo he and my mom had, they were both small (the appliances, not my parents....hehe) but we were thrilled to have something. The next time we left home I hid both those items. It seriously took us 2 months to find them after we got home. My mom would always call to tell me where she was hiding something because she would often forget and that way she had someone else who knew where she had put it. She called me one day and asked if I had found the TV and stereo, no, she then said "Then I'm not bothering to tell you where I'm hiding this thing". We still laugh about that.  BTW....I finally found both of them in a big box of fabric pieces someone had given me. I was collecting the fabric until I had enough for a quilt so really had no reason to ever look in there. Finally 1 day my nephew asked me to make him a cape for a costume and I decided to search the box to see if there was enough fabric rather than buy some and what do you know!!!??? This experience is now a family joke. When we misplace something in our house even ours kids (who weren't born yet when our things were stolen) will say "I bet it's with the TV and stereo". 
Cath

[Mikey]

That was a near miss......

Now I just wish I could find my daughter's gameboy....  I confiscated it and put it away somewhere safe.

The fetching one does a lot of her Christmas shopping throughout the year.  She sees something for a family member and she buys it and then hides it.  Come Christmas time not only has she has completely forgotten that she has made these purchases but she has no idea where they are hidden.  This week she turned up a very expensive saute cooking pan she had purchased 2-3 years ago for a family member   They no longer need it so now I can fry a 16cent egg with a $200 frying pan.....

[Teresa]

Oh Man!  I do the same thing as the fetching Mrs. Mikey!  And I find them years later and think, "Hmmm, this is still a great present, I'll remember that I have it and use it for the next birthday or christmas!"  Then I hide it again and forget it again for another couple of years.  You'd think I'd learn . . . .

DD really wants me to find her gameboy and I've seriously tried to, but it's in a very, very safe place.

[LeeAnne151]

I have done the same thing as the fetching Mrs. Mikey with presents and with money stuffed in books.

[Viv]

Having been burgled twice in the last year I tend to hide my jewelery in odd places.

I cannot find that pouch for love nor money and it's starting to P.ss me off!!!

Took me 3 months to find the replacement video camera...