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AIBU?

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Original poster

Where is this £60?

195 replies

SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 12:19

My just turned 8 year old DS got a little blue wallet a few months ago from a museum giftshop. I gave him a £5 note to put into it as he'd never had any 'paper money'. He then got around £25 in money at Christmas and at his birthday 1 week ago got a further £30. After the last sum I was aware that it was mounting up and made a mental note to take it and put it in his bank account. Today it is missing.

To recap, he had the wallet with his saved £60 in it a week ago. He swears blind it was on his drawers in his bedroom. I haven't seen it elsewhere in the house despite the fact I've been doing lots of tidying in preparation for some decorating. I have just turned his bedroom upside down looking... Looked in every drawer, cupboard, behind drawers, even inside all pockets, under the rug, under his mattress, everywhere.

In the last 3 hours I have searched the entire house, even down the sides of sofas and under furniture.

The only other people who came are 2 cleaners who were here on Wednesday. I don't want to point the finger but if it was in his room and now isn't, would it be unreasonable for me to at least contact the cleaning company and ask if they'd seen it? Or do I have to chalk it up to experience and write it off?

OP posts:
stofi · 02/04/2019 13:34

Another one who thinks he took it to school, I did similar once.

Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:34

No jolly, I'll do that now, thankyou!

OP posts:
Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:35

I spoke to the school office and explained the situation but I might mention it to his teacher too just in case.

OP posts:
MoonStarsSun · 02/04/2019 13:38

Dressing gown pocket? (this is a favourite place for lost items to turn up in our house!) Coat pocket? Hoody pocket? Any kind of uniform pocket (scouts etc)? PE kit bag? Have you checked the books he was reading last week in case he tucked it in that? Another place is any boxes with toys in it (as in, in with jigsaw puzzles in a box, or Lego, or so on). It means a lot of frustrating extra checking for you of course but it's far more likely to be in or around something he has used recently, than down the side of the sofa or behind a drawer etc.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 02/04/2019 13:38

A small suggestion from experience: if you want to test the cleaners the best thing is to leave a tray of £1 coins somewhere - a fair few of them but an odd number such as 27 or whatever

The idea's that, if they are going to steal, they're more likely to take a few which "won't be noticed" from a much larger number (and of course you'd check the total before and after their visit)

TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 02/04/2019 13:39

Terribly British, WholeLottaRosie?? I don’t think so Confused. Op’s 8 year old has lost his wallet and claims he saw it in his room a week ago. There is nothing whatsoever to indicate it must have been stolen by the cleaners apart from the fact that they were in the house a couple of days later.
Nothing stiff upper lip at all about not assuming they’re on the nick in the absence of any evidence whatsoever; the child could have put it anywhere.

mynameisMrG · 02/04/2019 13:39

Have you checked your laundry basket/washing machine?

I’ve washed loads of random things as I just scoop clothes up and throw them in

GenericHamster · 02/04/2019 13:40

If it was my 8-year-old I would think he might've misplaced it, but no way would he have taken it into school, and he'd have had zero opportunity to spend it. You know your son.

I would do another search, and then I might suspect the cleaner - but that's based on what I know of my house/family.

icelollycraving · 02/04/2019 13:40

Toybox? Monopoly perhaps?
Different coat/ dressing gown?
If it was in a drawer, have you removed the drawers, it may have slipped through.

Etino · 02/04/2019 13:41

Have you looked inside the piggy bank?

Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:41

I have just looked in his money box. It has a crack in it and part of the front has come off so really easy to access, it has a mix of coins in it but no denominations bigger than 20p, although I know it had plenty of pound coins and fifties and even £2 coins in it too. I wish I hadn't looked. Now I'm wondering what's happened there. Like I say, he doesn't have the opportunity to visit shops, spend any money without his parents knowing about it, so where has the money gone?

OP posts:
TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 02/04/2019 13:42

How can you say you know exactly what your child would and wouldn’t do, Generic? Children aren’t pre programmed robots. I know my children too but they’ve very frequently managed to surprise me.

separatebeds · 02/04/2019 13:43

As the money was mounting up did you personally continue to check it was all in the wallet or was your child totally in charge of this?. Did you actually see the wallet a week ago with all the money in it?

If not then it might have been spent/given away/lost over time....

icelollycraving · 02/04/2019 13:44

Oh shit. That does not look good.

JessieMcJessie · 02/04/2019 13:44

Is there a waste paper basket anywhere near the chest of drawers? Could the wallet have fallen off into it and then the cleaners emptied the bins when they came?

And think hard- when was the last time you saw the wallet (as opposed to you seeing it in your mind’s eye when he says it was there)? Sometimes thinking about what you were doing and when can prompt you to remember something helpful.

Have you asked your husband, could he have decided without telling either of you to move it to a safe place?

HolyForkingShirt · 02/04/2019 13:44

I reckon the cleaners stole it. I've had perfume stolen by cleaners before.

Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:44

No beds, I didn't. I have a vague recollection of seeing the wallet in his bedroom but I didn't personally check it. I know £30 went in last Tuesday but I can't say for definite that the other money was still there.

OP posts:
M3lon · 02/04/2019 13:46

Can he spend money at school? Is there a tuck shop or something?

Does he have siblings who might have 'borrowed' money?

Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:46

No waste paper bin and DH at home today. He's as confused as I am. Have checked all dressing gowns, coats, hoodies, jeans. Even those clean in his drawer and in the wash basket. Nada.

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JessieMcJessie · 02/04/2019 13:47

When did you last see the bigger coins in the money box?

Chocolatecake12 · 02/04/2019 13:48

Have you checked under his pillow.......or under the duvet in case he took it to bed with him? My ds was always taking random things to bed at that age Smile
Has he talked about spending it on anything specific? It’s not stuck in the middle of the Argos catalogue is it?
Are his birthday cards still up? Is it amongst them?

Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:48

No tuck shop at school and no other situations whereby he could spend or need money. He has a brother a year younger but he doesn't have an interest in money and hasn't shown any interest in the wallet or what was in there. He doesn't 'get it' I think. This morning I did ask him if he had seen it and he said he hadn't. He is the worst liar in the universe (he wouldn't make a poker player) so I would know if he was fibbing.

OP posts:
CornishMade · 02/04/2019 13:49

And now you know that higher value coins have gone from his moneybox too... which another person mentioned happened to them in a previous post. I'd leave a test pile of coins out for the cleaners, I'm afraid.

M3lon · 02/04/2019 13:50

He could spend money at school by buying things off other kids there...are there any big card/sticker swapping crazes going on at the moment?

That was what led to me being skammed at school...

Original poster
SpoilsburyToastGirl · 02/04/2019 13:50

We counted them up ages ago Jessie. I haven't looked for maybe 6 months. I can't be sure but I know that at one stage he had a good mix of coins in there, now it's mainly coppers and small silver coins. Like I say, he doesn't have access to shops to spend any of it (I take him twice a week to buy a few sweets) so I don't think that's what's happened.

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