To tell mother of French exchange that she was stealing?

[TuttiFrutti]

We have just hosted two French 10 year old girls in an exchange for a week (felt like a month). I'll call them Girl A and Girl B. I had built up an email contact with Girl A's mother in the weeks before the visit, but knew nothing about Girl B because it was a last minute substitution.

They were obsessed with fidget spinners and my DD bought them some with her own pocket money as a present.

On the night before their departure, they were packing and DD and her English friend walked past their open bedroom door and noticed one of DD's fidget spinners on top of Girl A's closed suitcase. They thought this was a bit odd so they opened Girl B's suitcase and discovered another of DD's fidget spinners in the suitcase, hidden under some clothes. They took it out, didn't tell the girls but came and told me. I decided not to confront them (regretting this now) because it was their last night and we had got the fidget spinner back anyway.

On the morning of their departure they were all playing with a pot of slime which my DD had bought 2 days before. I drove them into school and the two French girls were whispering together in the back of the car. When I got home guess what? The pot of slime had disappeared.

My DD and I feel quite shocked and let down that we made a huge effort to make them feel welcome and they have betrayed our trust like this.

I have told the school and they are going to tell the French school on Monday.

Do I tell the mother of Girl A? She has just What's Apped me an effusive thank you - do I reply at all?

My DD has the option to go back to France in the summer. Amazingly, she still wants to. When the family find out I have reported them for theft they may feel a bit differently of course. Or is the situation salveagable??? WWYD?

You have no proof that it was stealing... kids maybe discussed it amongst themselves and possible misunderstanding? Maybe even a change of mind after (? Falling out) initially agreeing to give the toy to them. It’s your DD word against theirs really. And Dd shouldn’t have gone rifling in someone else’s suitcase. So I would just leave it .

@Willow2017
Thanks for pointing that bit out! Makes more sense now

about why they had her dd's fidget spinners, but as she says, she didn't want to spoil their last evening

That was big of her. Especially since she waited till they left then reported them to thr school for theft. Asking them would have been the much better option.

One of them hid the dd's toy in her case. It wasnt a misteak, nobody hides something that doesnt belong to them by 'mistake

Don't be daft, they are tiny things, it could easily have got caught up in belongings as the kid was packing and not be noticed, it could easily have been put down there by mistake and not noticed as packing continued. There is no reason to believe it was done on purpose. Other than the op and her daughters ascertain that that must be the case.

As a previous poster stated, ever had a kid go away over night, often they come back with shit they shouldn't because they don't take enough care in packing, it doesn't mean they are thieves, it means they are ten and shit at packing.

It's so odd that the automatic reaction to seeing a fidget spinner on someone else's case, in their bedroom, is to open the case and rifle through the contents that I'd question the whole story TBH.

Your DD and her friend sound most unpleasant, whether there was an actual theft or not.

I'd be suprised if a ten year old came home with all their own stuff.
At that age Dd would regularly have random socks/hair bobbles/bracelets that weren't hers and half her own stuff wasn't there.
Of course these two 10yr olds have managed to neatly pack their own stuff, conceal a fidget spinner in the case and hide a tub of slime, and the Op didn't think to even ask the four 10year olds involved.