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  • WWYD. My neighbors' children (ages 5, 9, 9, and 11) hang out at our house all the time. They are very cute and my son (age 3) adores them and idolizes them. We go places together and do lots of stuff (I teach so I have the summers off, and all 4 of their parents work full time). However, this month, 2 expensive things have vanished from our house: A digital recording device and a brand new IPod. Our son might have hidden them/thrown them away, but he has never done much of that ever. We have SCOURED the apt. and they are nowhere to be found.

    12 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]
    07.16.08, 09:37 AM [ Flag ]
    • ugh. that is just pretty much an impossible situation. I think i would ask the kids (NOT THE PARENTS) if they've seen them. they'll get the picture. i think that's all you can do.

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      07.16.08, 09:41 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
      • they might feel guilty and bad and return them surreptitiously, if in fact they took them.

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        07.16.08, 09:41 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
        • I would hope so. The Ipod was engraved "To Gladys From Rupert" (names have been changed to protect the innocent) so it's not like someone's not going to notice.

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          07.16.08, 09:42 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
      • OP; Yeah, and made worse by the fact that our family is caucasian and all the children in question are African American. I harbor no assumptions based on race, but I am intelligent enough to see that if I even suggested the kids might have taken them (and "might" is the operative word... we could have lost the things ourselves), there would be major hell to pay.

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        07.16.08, 09:44 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
    • OP: My husband thought of putting a notice on our lobby bulletin board saying "MISSING: An 8 gig Ipod Touch and an Olympus portable digital recorder. Please return to the office. No questions asked."

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      07.16.08, 09:56 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
      • np: I think this is a good way to handle it.

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        07.16.08, 09:57 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
        • You think? To me it sounds a little sanctimonious.

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          07.16.08, 09:58 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
          • I would adjust the language to "if found, please leave with the office. Thanks!" something like that. But it's a good way to give the parents a heads up if they notice anything new in their children's possession without alienating them. And I would definitely not ask the kids or the parents. It's not worth the potential for alienation of your neighbors - unless you catch someone actually in the act.

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            07.16.08, 10:01 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
            • Oh, I couldn't agree more about not telling the parents. I think your idea is great. Thank you.

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              07.16.08, 10:16 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
      • that is good and if you know when they went missing -say ipod missing sometime between 8am the 3rd and 10pm the 5th

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        07.16.08, 10:15 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
    • UPDATE from OP: The Ipod, with the engraving scratched off, has been found in the possession of one of the kids. The stories are inconsistent. All we have to do is demonstrate that the serial number on the Ipod matches that on the packaging (which we still have). I'm so bummed out.

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      07.18.08, 11:40 AM [ Flag | link to this post ]
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