"Broken" lamp

[Butterflykissess]

A few weeks ago my 2 children stayed over at my sister's house for the night ( rare occurrence) then yesterday on the phone she said they had broken my nephews lamp and he had only just told her apparently. I was a bit surprised and asked what was wrong with it but she said "i don't know" asked if she changed the bulb to see if it was that and she said no. She kept saying she doesn't know what she is going to do about the lamp, clearly expecting me to offer to replace it. I asked it she had the receipt so she could take to back but she said she couldn't find it. I said she could take it back without the receipt but she said she didn't have time. It was clear she wanted the money off me but no one witnessed them apparently breaking it (nephew was away) and she hasn't even checked the bulb (apparently doesn't have time to do that either. Wibu to not offer to replace it?

I would say you need to speak to your children first to find out if they did anything that would result in the lamp being broken - if they say not, and you believe them, then I don't think YWBU to not offer to pay. How old are the kids involved? It's not unusual for a child to blame another as they think they may get into trouble. It does sound as though your DSis is wanting you to offer to replace it, but she's going about it in a passive-aggressive way! Unless she comes straight to the point and can pretty much be sure who broke it, then no, don't pay up. I might have advised you to pay if she looked after your DC on a regular basis, but if it's rare, then I'm not sure you should automatically assume that your DC are to blame. We've had quite a few things damaged when DS's friends/cousins are here, and although I am usually pissed off, I've never hinted or suggested that their parents should cough up.

Ask your kids what happened.

If they did break it, of course you should replace it.

If they deny it, then it's their word against your sister/nephew.

But if the nephew wasn't there, how does he know it was them? It could have been him.

You need to ask your sister how the lamp is 'broken' - could be the bulb, could be the fuse. If there is no physical damage to it, who knows?

She needs to change the bulb for starters. Then you need to talk to your dc. If they did break it you need to pay but not without reason.

No I can count on one hand the number of times she has had them,not often at all. Nephew was at his dad's house so didn't see anything happen. My 4 year old said he didn't do it. Nephew is 14 my children are 4 and 7.

Should add my other child is asd and non verbal but like I said she hasn't even changed the bu lb. Nephew noticed when he got back apparently about 2\3 weeks ago but only just mentioned it.

So actually what’s happened is your children were playing in nephews room, nephew comes back and says four days later that his lamp is broken, your children are blamed. Yes they were in there, no one saw them break the lamp.

Ask your children if it’s possible they could have broken it. Did they touch it etc. If they still say no, offer to go halves and don’t let your children be there unsupervised again.

Sorry that should read “a few days later” although it’s actually weeks as you say in your last post.

Until she changes the bloody bulb/fuse it may be that the lamp isn't 'broken' at all.

By the way you can't just expect a shop to replace an item that could have been purchased several years ago (especially without any proof of purchase)...

She said it's a month old. If it's just stopped working with no obvious signs of damage then it's worth a try because it could be a fault. Although it's probably the bulb.

Of course it couldn't have already been broken before DC stayed over?

I wouldn't do anything. If she can't be arsed to check the bulb/fuse or even try to take it back then why should you bother to help her if she can't help herself.