Sooner or later, kids grow up and learn (and by proxy, deal with the fact) that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny (among many, many others) are more or less figments of our, the adult, imagination.
How you go about telling them about this figment is more or less clear. But sometimes people are people and we can resort to morally gray solutions all because someone had to be taught a lesson after 2 years of devil kids screaming their lungs out all because they were never told to use their inside voices.
More Info: Reddit
Not everyone has the luxury of choosing their neighbors, but it by no means means that they can't do anything about them
Image credits: zoetnet (not the actual photo)
One constantly noisy neighbor who babysits a lot was recently schooled on how to do it properly with the help of ol' Saint Nick
Image credits: NibblesMcGiblet
Image credits: Craig Adderley (not the actual photo)
Image credits: NibblesMcGiblet
Well, Santa himself did not make an appearance, and even if he would have, that would've been morbid, but it did stop all the kids from screaming
Image credits: Juanedc (not the actual photo)
The story goes that Redditor u/NibblesMcGiblet lives in an old 1800s house that’s as authentic as it can be, including "acoustic insulation". It just so happens that she has neighbors who babysit quite often. It also just so happens that the kids they babysit have the vocal aptitude of a flock of harpies zeroing in on their prey.
What is worse is that, one, the kids’ loudness is empowered by the supposed “cool uncle” neighbor who spends much of the time babysitting the kids and, two, you might guess just how thin the walls are in that Georgian-era house.
Now, we get it, the kids are having loads of fun, and the neighbor is excited along with them. It’s all positive and fun. However, you’d expect some degree of restraint and respect to be exercised, right? OP had the unfortunate honor of having to bear the screams for two years at this point.
Until now.
Image credits: Vanessa Loring (not the actual photo)
In her interview with Bored Panda, OP explained that it wasn't supposed to be petty revenge in the first place. "I wasn’t even trying to GET revenge. It was a spur of the moment thing that I simply blurted out quickly and that was that.”
You see, OP pretended to be on the phone. Loudly. Loud enough for the screaming to quiet down for a bit in anticipation of what OP would say next in her fauxn call. “HELLO? YES THAT'S ME. WHAT? NO!NO!NO!” [silence] “OH MY GOD SANTA IS DEAD? WHAT HAPPENED??”
“I didn’t pre-plan this. Santa is what came out of my mouth. Not ‘Santa Claus,’ just Santa. I suppose, in retrospect, if they even did hear me, for all they know Santa could be the name of my pet dog or something.”
Within a matter of seconds, OP hears a pitter-patter of little feet skedaddling out of the premises. Quite likely as they were instructed on it by the “cool uncle” so that OP wouldn’t say something more outrageous, like the Easter Bunny being in cahoots with the Tooth Fairy and having a monopolistic cartel in the chicken farming and dentistry industries.
Surprisingly, that was enough to keep the noise levels at an absolute minimum.
“We see one another occasionally in the hallway. They say hi, I say hi, that’s the end of it. There has been zero indication they necessarily even heard me other than the fact that they got quiet when I yelled ‘No, No!’ and then left shortly thereafter. It’s entirely possible they simply heard the sound of me being home, realized the kids were being loud and that I was home rather than at work that particular day, and opted to take the kids out rather than bother me. No way of knowing.”
Image credits: Ivan Radic (not the actual photo)
Now, it is important to note that OP did not intend for any of this to be malicious—if anything, educational, teaching the importance of context and consequences. The way the babysitting was done was interactive and engaging, sure, but even that can be done with respect to your neighbors, right? All it needed was some guidance on the part of the neighbors.
As to why not confront the neighbors about it? Let’s just say they aren’t the easiest to interact with on account of them partaking in activities some might deem illegal.
While there were people who found OP’s approach morally questionable, most indulged in the fact that it was petty revenge in its purest form and praised the woman.
Because this is Reddit, of course folks wanted to be more mischievous than that and started suggesting how to one-up the idea with more carnage. Should the noise return, there’s always the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. Oh, and Zombie Santa.
The other ramp-up is that Santa might have passed away from the cookies these kids left for him last Christmas. I swear, someone’s out to get him. OP has nothing against Santa, for he has lists for good and bad kids and he trolls bad kids for being naughty. A just concept.
All in all, nearly 3,000 upvotes (89% positive) and over 10 Reddit awards later, the post went viral. You can check it all out in context here.
Image credits: Daniel Reche (not the actual photo)
Speaking of context, the whole idea about telling kids Santa’s not real is a pretty natural process. Natural in the sense that a lot of parents and kids go through it and it’s beneficial practice for both parents and kids to deal with it all together, all the while strengthening their bond as family.
At about eight, kids naturally start questioning the whole idea of Santa, and this is honestly the best time to broach the topic. This is where you, as a parent, swoop in and ask the kid how they feel about it. Take their lead on the conversation and make sure conditions are perfect for the child to be able to accept the breaking news.
Be honest. Validate their feelings. Let them channel their emotions. Make up a plan on how the Christmas tradition will now be approached, and maybe they would like to take on Santa’s role as the gift giver?
It is key to drive the conversation towards a direction that will not make the kid think Christmas has lost its magic. You could go about it saying Santa represents the spirit of Christmas, and the way you can help keep it up is by practicing generosity and kindness. And that’s perfectly encapsulated in the idea of gift giving.
So, how did you learn that Santa’s not real? Wait… he’s not… real…? My goodness… Um. So, what are your thoughts on any of this? [sigh] Let us know in the comment section below! [leaves]
Folks online, while slightly considering the moral grayness of it all, were all in all entertained by OP's non-traditional approach to silence
