what would you do? (Lost Nintendo DS) *update post #20*

[numbat1]

There is of course no one right answer to this (never is in parenting is there?).

I have an almost 10 year old who is expected to be responsible for his possessions including portable games consoles and other expensive equipment. If the loss was purely his responsibility we would expect him to save and replace. If it was a situation that he was partially responsible for, or should have realised was an issue but hadn't yet experienced similar or been educated about, then we would likely expect him to contribute about half. Were it a situation out of his control then we'd expect him to learn and we might replace it, possibly as a special occasion gift.

In general the older the child the more responsibility. The more specific education about an issue, or the more experience of a similar nature, the stronger the consequence.

If your son is expected to replace it himself (even with the choice of using gift money) then he has the option to chose exactly what he wants and likely stronger motivation regarding its care.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[MSSANDRA]

DS's PSP (even more money) "disapeared" a few years ago (he was 14). The problem was we just are not sure, even now ,how it happened. We think it was left in his grandpa's nursing home room and maybe "walked" off or he could have handed it to me and I layed it down or he could have just lost it!!

He is a good kid and this was really out of character for him to "loose" something, so we bit the bullet and replaced it just because we loved him. Not lost anything else major since.

 

[budbeerlady]

We are in the same boat with DD (9), I am almost thinking someone lifted it out of our car. We have searched EVERYWHERE!!!!!! She always keeps it in the same spot and she had it for 2+ years. Its been gone for 3 weeks now and I feel so bad for her.... She is a pretty responsible kid and its just gone.

We know she will get some money from Grandpa for Christmas, it will almost cover a replacement one. If she asks we are going to let her buy another one, I am hoping she will ask me to help her find a used one but that is up to her....

 

[DawnM]

Ugh! Now youngest says his DS is missing!

I have more hope for finding his though as I don't think it left the house.

Of course we have ALL the gameboys we purchased 7 years ago in just fine condition still!

Dawn

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Something similiar happened to my ds last year. He lost his gameboy and we told him that he couldn't get a nintendo ds because he wasn't responsible with his gameboy. Poor child tore up the world looking for that thing. Finally, we let him off the hook and got him a ds for Christmas last year. He's been very responsible with it. Wouldn't you know that the gameboy turned up a few month after Christmas. It was in the pocket behind the drivers seat in the car....right in front of where he sits every day of his life.....hiding in plain sight I guess.

 

[squirrel]

Do you etch your Driver's Licence # on the system somewhere?

I was at a Block Watch meeting a few weeks ago and the police said that they have a lot of stolen items and they are not marked with a DL. If they were then they would be returned. Not only that, if they catch a person with an item that has a DL # on it and it isn't the DL of the person with it they can get it back to you. Do not put your SIN on any of your items.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My oldest son left his nintendo DS case with all the games in it on the plane in Orlando on Nov 21st.

I was sitting next to him, and when it was almost time to land I told him to put his DS away. Well he didn't put it in the case, just put it into his backpack.

Then the man next to me spilled his drink on me. My right leg was wet and sticky with this guys coke so I was in a hurry to get off the plane and clean up. I didn't even look back to make sure we hadn't left anything.

A couple days later he realized it was gone. We checked the Orlando airport. The lady was very friendly, but they didn't have it. We checked the Detroit airport when we got home. They didn't have it either. So my son (almost 9 years old) is out a case and 9 games. He only has the one game left that was in the actual DS.

Since his birthday is this weekend I think he will be getting a couple games from relatives. I will replace the case. I feel partly to blame because I usually double check that we don't leave anything behind. The rest he will have to go without or buy himself.