Babysitting a Girl Who Steals My Things!

If it were my child I would definitely want someone to tell me, even if it hurts. This girl sounds like she has a real problem and needs some help! If you think her parents will overreact, maybe you could tell her school counselor or something? You may not be the only victim of her sticky fingers and it's better that you call her out than the local police officer at the drug store, right? I think you explained yourself well and have lots of incidents to cite, so you can say that you didn't want to say anything at first and give her a chance to change her ways, but that has not worked. You sound like a caring person, so I'm sure you'll find a way to do this in a diplomatic way. I think you should see how this conversation goes before deciding whether or not to babysit her next summer.

Good Luck!

I would absolutely tell her parents. Tell them just like you told us. Something along the lines of "I wasn't wanting to bring this to your attention but its happened again and again....tell your story to them and take it from there.

I would want to know if it was my kids and besides its wrong for her to be doing that to begin with.

D.

Hi Donna,
I don't know what kind of home this little girl comes from but if this were my child, I would like to know that my child has this problem at her young age so that I could nip it now so that down the road, it doesn't lead to bigger things.
I think you should come forward with this girl's parents and give them the option, you can sit and they can work with you to stop this or they can find someone else. End of story. You should not be taken advantage of especially in your own home!!
Who knows, maybe this is happening at home and they are just too close to see the situation.

First of all I would definately want to know if my child is doing this. But then I started thinking about it and maybe she has picked up the habbit from one of the parents. Either way you should confront them and give them the option that if they want to use your services that this needs to be corrected and if she does it again that you will call the police. It my scare them enough to realize how serious this is. You definately need to tell them everything thing including the fact that she even stole from your mom.
Don't let it go to much longer or it could get worse

She is 8-9 yr old, and she must know stealing is a serious crime. It doesn't matter what , where and why she steals. You should tell her parents and have them to do the search in front of you. It is not a threaten but she needs to know you can call up the police, and she will be seeing the judge.

I just want to say that she has learned this from someone. Kids to do not learn to steal by themself. Let her know that this is a crime, and she will be disiplined for stealing. As for babysitting again next summer, inform her parents as to what happened and inform them that if this is not fixed and the problems stopped you can not afford to babysit her again. If they can fix the probelm then there is not reason why you shouldnt be able to babysit, but remember that you have every right to put your fott down and say no!!!I would not put up with anyone stealing anything from me!!