Hellobee Boards

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).
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.

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."

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."

What does that mean, toys are real? I am not sure how that figures into things for your situation....

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.

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.
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.
She's brought it up a few times since but seems to be okay with the zebra making someone else happy.

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.

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.

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.

Hilariously it was the My Little Pony "Apple Jack" that was chewed on, and now we call her apple snack

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).

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?