https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 19:58:37 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2671808 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 05:12:55 +0000 misolee 2671808@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wouldn't replace it. Or all things lost will be finding its way home 😂</p> <p>When my LO was around 2.5, someone gifted her this purse and she put a whole bunch of toys in it and left it at a store. She informed me she left it at the store after we came home. I turned around and went back to pick it up (the purse had a jewelry box key in it and we wouldn't be able to open the box) I tried using as teachable moment but it flew over her head bc she had the purse. A couple of months later, she left her play phone at another store. I did not go back for it. She's 4.5 and still talks about how she lost her phone. When I tell her to leave things in the car, she'll remind me and say, "so I don't lose it like the phone?" </p> <p>Also, I didn't buy her a replacement phone toy until her 4th bday. She has a thing with phones (like her mamma🤣). But now she's super careful not to lose it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2671793 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 01:58:10 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2671793@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When I was little, maybe 7 or 8, my dad replaced a $20 bill I was given earlier that day. The lesson I learned was my dad will fix things even when I am irresponsible. The bill was in my pocket and I kept taking it in and out to see it/ touch it while we walked down a city street. I think the better lesson is to let kids have a sense of loss and disappointment and talk about how to keep up with their things. Certainly she can have a new stuffed animal and plastic toy, but it doesn't have to be the exact same ones as if they magically found there way back to your house. Isn't that what the Toy Story toys tried to do? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2671785 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 00:54:03 +0000 sapphire 2671785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sometimes in these situations I like to think about what would MY parents have done? Called the Zoo to report the loss but definitely not replaced the items if it was my fault. She will get over it and I don't think it teaches much to just replace them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2671776 Thu, 29 Dec 2016 23:53:13 +0000 birdofafeather 2671776@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I recently replaced some lost little people toys bc DD1 lost them but they were a just opened gift for DD2 and we had a giant castle with no princesses. If it had been DD1's, I may not have replaced them because it was something we had discussed (taking care of and not losing your things). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2671548 Thu, 29 Dec 2016 17:54:39 +0000 Greentea 2671548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wouldn't replace. I think it important to teach how to cope with such bummers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2671541 Thu, 29 Dec 2016 17:29:52 +0000 JennyD 2671541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Similarly to Looch, we have a policy that toys can go in the car but then stay there. Unless we're going to someone's house. </p> <p>DD has left toys at Grandma's house and they've been chewed on by the dogs. We used it as an opportunity to teach her she needs to keep track of her stuff/put her toys away. I do not replace toys. </p> <p>Hilariously it was the My Little Pony "Apple Jack" that was chewed on, and now we call her apple snack 😂 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670916 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 13:51:18 +0000 Silva 2670916@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wanted to add- in order to keep magic alive for kids at this age we don't need to tell them the story. So when she asks what happened to the animal, I'd respond with "I wonder..." or "hmmm.... I don't know." Maybe she can tell you a story about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670915 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 13:50:21 +0000 Silva 2670915@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 3.5 year old received a tiny zebra from a guy working at the grocery store last week. She left it in the cart. She was really upset about it and every part of me wanted to go to the dollar store and buy a tube of plastic animals for her.<br /> I let her be sad, validated her feelings, and eventually told her that I thought someone else would find the zebra in the cart and it might make them really happy.<br /> She's brought it up a few times since but seems to be okay with the zebra making someone else happy.</p> <p>In situations like these I try to remind myself that my goal as a parent is not to protect my child from ever feeling pain or hurt but to help her learn how to manage difficult emotions or situations when they occur. Her disappointment was so real to me and I also knew I couldn't just fix the problem. She had to feel it and feel her way through it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670913 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 13:44:39 +0000 erinbaderin 2670913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I'm taking it to mean that she doesn't understand that they're inanimate objects instead of, like, a tiny horse - think Toy Story. So instead of just being sad that her toy is gone she's worried about her toy trying to come home. </p> <p>I would replace it because it was an accident but maybe make it clear that this doesn't always happen and she's really lucky, and then in the future suggest maybe things get left in the car because "remember that time the horse fell in the pond and you were so sad?" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670878 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 11:49:59 +0000 looch 2670878@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What does that mean, toys are real? I am not sure how that figures into things for your situation....</p> <p>My son sometimes asks to bring things with him. The rule is he can put whatever he wants into a bag into the car, but once we get to wherever we are going, the items stay in the car unless he wants to cart them around and be responsible for them. He has lost a few small things here and there and we have not replaced, but we tend to "make it up" later and just by more stuff, so not sure how what really teaches anything, to be honest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670857 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 10:34:28 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2670857@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Maybe replace them but with a note or something you can read to her saying the zoo keeper found them and is doing a nice deed by sending back - maybe she can pay it forward and be careful in the future. Poor kid! So sad when they are upset. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670852 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 10:14:53 +0000 kiddosc 2670852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wouldn't replace. We use it as a teachable moment. "If you bring toys with us, you need to be careful and keep track of them." </p> <p>E brought a toy car into the store once and set it down without us knowing it and didn't say anything until we got to the car. He couldn't tell us where he put it and we weren't going to scour the store. A year and a half later, he still remembers and we still use it as a reminder. "You can bring a toy, but let's leave it in the car." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670851 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 10:04:16 +0000 808love 2670851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This happened once when LO was 4. She left a dog (that had a matching partner) at a hotel across the country. I have called to report the loss but to no avail. We talked about how Rose is ok and what she might be doing. It has been over a year and she still talks about visiting and recovering it. I think of replacing but haven't. It won't be the same because it is the idea of rescuing the first one and bringing her back home where she belongs.<br /> Like at the grocery store, if I let LO hold a stuffed animal, she always wants to return it to a group of similar animals (even if was originally misplaced) because she wants it to go back home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670848 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 09:56:02 +0000 wheres_c 2670848@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Most of the time when my 3.5 year old loses or breaks toys we use it as a teaching moment. (Sometimes we lose things we can't get back).<br /> If it was an accidental loss/breakage and he's still upset about it the next day, or a few days later I consider replacing. When I do replace toys, nothing magical happens - either he has to use money from his piggy bank to get a new one, or mommy had to "work an extra hour" today to buy him a new one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/lost-toys-wwyd#post-2670845 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 09:50:15 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2670845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Last week my 3.5 year old lost two toys (a plastic horse and a small stuffed Elmo) at the zoo. She was hysterical (specifically about the horse, which she dropped into a pond by accident). We distracted her long enough for her to enjoy the zoo but as soon as we got in the car she started bawling again. She's still at that age where toys are real so we tried every story in the book- the toys are having fun with their new zoo friends, etc, and we tried reality (sometimes we lose things we can't get back). Almost a week later, she's still bringing up Elmo and the horse, wondering if someone got them out of the pond, asking her grandmother if she can make her a big net to get the toys out, then moving to whether they might be trying to get back to our house, etc. </p> <p>So- wwyd in this case? Part of me wants to run with the fairy tale and replace the toys to have them waiting when we get back from our trip on Sunday, or send them to my mom's house where we'll be. Part of me wants to stay with the teachable moment of losing things we can't get back. Husband wants to replace the toys. Kiddo's imagination is pretty robust so we're in that weird place of wanting to keep the magic for her but also trying to impart real life. </p> <p>Thoughts? </p>