Young Nephew stole .. How do i deal with this?

Buckslad_2

Hi All

We looked after my niece and nephew at the weekend and we had them over night. This was the first time, my nephew is 10. We had a great couple of days apart from Sunday morning (0630 .. there is a reason i dont want kids, lol) when my nephew wanted to play on the PS3, the game is 18 certificate which i know his parents let him play but i said no, not in my house. I joked and said it was too early to be killing people but made it very clear he wasnt going to play that game. He then played a racing game which is much more suitable and we had a good morning.
Anyway to cut a long story short the disk has now gone. We have looked high and low for it and my OH thinking back now thinks he was acting strange just before we were set to take them home and had also made a comment saying "I will play that game you know!" whilst i was at the park with his younger sister.

Now with two adults in the house, myself never touching the games (not my thing) its very unlikely this game has been misplaced so we are 99.9% certain my nephew has taken it home. The reason we are not 100% is because to be 100% certain we would have seen him take it. Thats how sure we are.

So good people some advise please. I know i need to speak to my brother and SIL about this. Not only do we want the game back but we also need to send a clear message that stealing is not acceptable and there must be a consequence to his actions. I dont want to make a fuss, i certainly dont want any shouting so im thinking of asking my SIL to look through the bag they brought and also his room .. there is a possible chance this game has gone to his friends house! so it may never be found.

Any advise much appreciated.
Thanks

GobbledyGook

Before you accuse him of theft you need to find out if he or his sister have lifted the game accidentally or moved it.

Also as well as looking for the game in it's box, have you checked other game boxes? My kids are a nightmare for putting the wrong game in the wrong box and it drives me potty.

Buckslad_2

We feel terrible about this which is why we have been so thorough in searching for the game. The words 'accuse him of theft' just fill me with dread to be honest and make my stomach turn . I love my nephew very much and i hate this whole situation we are in but as i say the circumstances around yesterday morning really do lead us to believe he has taken this on purpose

Sambucus_Nigra

Hey SIL - me and nephew had a disagreement about X game yesterday and now X game can't be found. Can you ask him where he put it/last saw it as we can't find it. Thanks.

balletshoes

Buckslad wrote: »

We feel terrible about this which is why we have been so thorough in searching for the game. The words 'accuse him of theft' just fill me with dread to be honest and make my stomach turn . I love my nephew very much and i hate this whole situation we are in but as i say the circumstances around yesterday morning really do lead us to believe he has taken this on purpose

then don't accuse him.
By all means phone your sister and say the game has gone missing and can she check that her kids haven't taken it home with them by mistake. Do not do any accusing. You have no actual proof he stole it anyway, so going in all guns blazing will do you no favours with anyone.

If your nephew has taken the game and he admits he took it (ie not by accident) then you can talk to him about stealing.

GobbledyGook

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Hey SIL - me and nephew had a disagreement about X game yesterday and now X game can't be found. Can you ask him where he put it/last saw it as we can't find it. Thanks.

Sounds ideal to me. Brings the conversation up without accusing him, but also makes the point that you know he was among last to have it.

browneyedbazzi

I would contact his parents and explain that you can't find the disk and ask them to check to see if it has migrated to their house (I wouldn't suggest that it was stolen)....if it does turn up there then I'd explain the situation a bit more and although I wouldn't 'accuse' him of stealing it, I'd ask for the parents to ask him how it managed to find it's way to their house and to have a chat with him about respecting other people's property (because even if it ended up in his bag by 'accident' he should be more careful with other people's stuff!).

Buckslad_2

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Hey SIL - me and nephew had a disagreement about X game yesterday and now X game can't be found. Can you ask him where he put it/last saw it as we can't find it. Thanks.

I have clearly over thought this and got in a tizz ....... Thank you I just dont want to make a big deal about it if you know what i mean? I dont want to upset anyone and i certainly dont want him to think he isnt welcome again

Sambucus_Nigra

balletshoes wrote: »

If your nephew has taken the game and he admits he took it (ie not by accident) then you can talk to him about stealing.

I'd leave the parents to do that - they need to do the digging and any punishments that result, if indeed he has got it.

Sambucus_Nigra

Buckslad wrote: »

I have clearly over thought this and got in a tizz ....... Thank you I just dont want to make a big deal about it if you know what i mean? I dont want to upset anyone and i certainly dont want him to think he isnt welcome again

You might find that he miraculously finds it under the carpet/in a box/in a drawer next time he comes over.

daska

I think, like Sambucus, I'd take the tack of addressing it as if you believe it's still in your house right in front of your eyes and you're being blind as a bat, please could he think back to where he last saw it. No accusations, take the mick out of yourself about not being able to see it.