My 5 (nearly 6) year old foster child tonight was throwing a little toy figure around and it has become wedged behind a heavy cupboard. I can't move it but it is possible my husband might be able to when he gets in.
However, if the figure can't be retrieved I do have a spare one as when I saw how popular the first one was I bought a spare one just in case it was accidentally lost or broken. My fs found this spare toy the other day when he looked through my bag. I told him off for that and said it was only being kept as a spare.
As soon as the other one was lost he said 'we'll have to open the spare one now.' Bear in mind that the first one was only bought on Thursday so he hasn't had it very long. I said that as he'd thrown the toy around the room, despite being asked not to, I wasn't going to give him the spare one. I am constantly reminding him not to throw toys around.
The problem is, the figure was bought for him and his older brother to share. So now it's lost his brother obviously can't play with it either, and is understandably cross with his brother. My older fs has suggested that he could be given the spare toy and that his brother shouldn't be allowed to play with it. But I think that seems a bit cruel, plus a bit unrealistic to expect a 5 year old to remember never to touch a toy figure that he is very keen on.
I want the 5 year old to learn to look after toys and play with them properly, but at the same time I don't want to be too harsh!
What would you do?