DCK Taking Toys Home

[Michael]

I thought I’d post some older threads on stealing toys: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...=stealing+toys

[Rockgirl]

I’ve had a couple of little things returned by parents with apologies. But this one really got me: A child didn’t want to give up a toy when dcm came to pick up. She told me, “Well, I guess we’ll bring it back tomorrow!” Of course I said no, but seriously….the audacity!

[GirlMomma]

Between 4-4:30 we clean up and have music time or movie time. I suppose at the last diaper change/potty break, I’ll be checking pockets!

[GirlMomma]

These are my rules with the newly added pat down! Lol

[Cat Herder]

I check pockets/pat down at the door, jackets stay in the foyer and no bags are allowed from home.

[Alwaysgreener]

I had a Dcg that I would have to pat down upon arrival and departure. She brought in dangerous toys from home once, I do not recall what the toy was but it was not safe for her infant brother, small parts.

One of the first weeks here, we did sticker crafts where I just let them go crazy with stickers peeling and sticking. She kept piling them up and saying I want this one and this one and this one and this one. I had thought she was putting the stickers in a pile to use. At clean up I told her to put her papers in her brothers car seat (last car seat allowed ever). When her mom came to pick up, she removed the papers from the car seat to put the baby in and there was a stash of about 20 stickers. I commented I didn't know you took those, dcm said nothing. I didn't care about the sticker so I walked away, literally.

Fast forward a few months in and I had little pom-poms that we were putting into bottles. As we were playing the pom pom started disappearing. She was stashing them in her pockets. By the time it was time to clean up, she stood up and her pockets are bulging. I assigned everybody a different task and they all went to work cleaning up. I then asked her to empty her pockets. She refused, so I did it for her.

I have never had another child, or have caught another child since then taking anyting. I do have a school-age boy that wants to take my pop it to school. So I do have to inventory them daily.

She may be the reason why I started cleaning up and putting kids at the table at the end of the day. She and her older brother are definitely the reasons why I check pockets.

[GirlMomma]

This morning, DCB2 comes in with my daycare’s toy phone. I asked him if he took it home last night. He smiled and said yes. The child has a crazy obsession with this phone and will pout and try to take it from others if he doesn’t get to it first.

It’s not a big deal, but it’s also not okay. My DH and I work hard to buy these things and don’t want them taken. I put the toy up today and he’s not allowed to play with it at all today.

Have you ever dealt with this? Do you check their pockets at the door?