Wwyd

[Leah1802]

Interested to get some opinions on this. On holiday with 5yo and 3yo. Have pool toys for both to keep them entertained, quite happy to let other kids play with toys etc. Leave 3yo toys by sunbed while we go to lunch. Come back and some older kids are playing with toys, which are now broken. 3yo very upset because, you know, he is 3 and this is big deal to him. DH keen to speak to find parents of kids to explain not acceptable and 3yo very upset.

Just interested to get some opinions on wwyd. I know grand scheme of things, broken toys are very minor and kids will experience worse when they are adults. But at same time, feel like other kids taking toys and then breaking them not acceptable (if it was my kids I would be embarrassed and buy replacements), plus crying 3yo is bloody annoying!

Yeah that's not ok
Is it obvious they're your toys not just toys left round the pool? Not on though

Its unfortunate perhaps that they got broken, and yes I'd be replacing them had my child broken them.

I wonder if a child would understand that they could play when you were there but not when you were not? I doubt a 3 year olds toys appeal to older children, and doubt the damage was deliberate/malicious

I wouldn't care tbh. They obviously weren't valuable or expensive, or you would have taken them with you. Just put your hand in your pocket and replace them. I know it's not nice but you are on holiday ffs. Life's too short..

This ^ what @Singlenotsingle said

If you leave them behind, you run the risk that they get broken...

Thanks for replies. Yes the toys were inexpensive, and weren't planning to bring them home with us anyway. But dealing with crying 3yo is annoying, especially when he feels other kids were mean. Oh well

I'd just buy new cheap tat for the holiday and take more care of my stuff in future. No point in making a big deal of it.

At the risk of sounding victim-blamey, it was a bit daft leaving them there and going off elsewhere. Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, if I didn’t want them broken I’d have taken them in with me.

No it is very rude of the kids, they should know better, my 6 year old knows not to touch things that are not his. I would replace them with cheapies, and just hide them when they are not in use under a towel or take them with you.

I wonder how much of your DS sons reaction is based on that of his dad? It's a bit weird for a 3 year old to attach meanness to a broken toy.

Brush over it and it'll be better for your DS

Taking something that is not yours is never ok, it is stealing.

That is so...but that does not prevent it from happening, so better to take the stuff with you when you leave.

How do you know these kids took them and broke them? If you saw this, I would have gone over and said something to them straight away.

If you're asking on here, it's probably a bit late now.

I'm sorry your 3yr old is upset though. That's pretty poor behaviour by the other children. If the toys were clearly on or under your sunbed they've behaved very badly.

I wouldn't have left them as I expect this kind of thing being a suspicious sort, so no I wouldn't bother speaking to the parents, it's my own responsibility to keep our belongings safe.

Why wouldn't you take them with you if they were important to your DS?

Blimey, we have enough problems with random children trying to run off with buckets and spades, inflatables, or balls that we are playing with at the time whilst we're there, let alone leaving them behind in the expectation they'll be still there in one piece when we return!

Tbf to the other children, they were toys, which, they were allowed to play with. A bt later, they saw them, near the pool, and played with them. They might well have presumed they were there for anyone to play with, as that is what had been happening half an hour earlier.
If they were important, you should have put them back in your room whilst you weren't there.
I'd just get another one, and take more care of it this time.