I had a little one, age 4 at the time, who stuffed my sons trains in his little brothers pockets. I realized this after he brought one back one day and said "uh oh... little johnny put this in his pocket yesturday" I'm sure it's what he told his mom and mom told him just to bring it back the same way. (wasn't a great client)

It stopped at that. I would not hesitate to terminate if the theft continues to happen.

I would probably send and email to all families asking to check pockets etc. I would then probably try to set up the little guy and catch him in the act. Deal with it with mom. Set him up again a week later and if it happens again, immediate termination.

My kids go without a lot in order for me to be home with them. Loss of space, play pens in their room, sharing old toys, sharing me, different snacks etc. It's certainly not fair for them to deal with their toys dissapearing too.