ParentingDEC 27, 2024

“You Lost Christmas”: Teacher’s Letter To Parents Makes Them Cancel Christmas For Their 5-Year-Old

Parenting is really not an easy job, no matter how you spin it. Being a parent to a problem child is its own can of worms, so moms and dads have to get pretty creative with how they approach discipline and punishment. And sometimes extreme situations call for, relatively, extreme measures.

A mom went viral on TikTok after sharing how she decided to punish her five year old for her behavior, after getting a long email from her teacher. We reached out to the mom via email and will update the article when she gets back to us.
More info: TikTok

Getting a long email from your kid’s teachers is often not a great sign

Image credits: Ngân Dương (not the actual photo)

So one mom decided that she had to take matters into her own hands

Image credits: melez907

“So I saw this creator that said that you should cancel Christmas for kids who don't know how to behave. Right?

And I'mma tell you all this. Christmas in my house is canceled. And when I tell you it's canceled, more specifically, it's canceled for my five-year-old daughter.

Did I say Christmas is canceled for my five-year-old daughter? Absolutely. It's canceled for my five-year-old daughter.

My son, he's 11. He knows Santa Claus is not real. He goes with the flow for his sister. So you already know the vibe. He knows that mommy and daddy buy some stuff. We didn't tell him that. He's 11. He figured that out on his own.”

Image credits: melez907

“But you may ask, Mel, why is Christmas canceled for your five-year-old? And I'mma tell you.

I would show you, but I'm not gonna show you the long email that her teacher wrote me and her dad last week about her atrocious behavior in that schoolhouse.

Before this email came in, the teacher, I called the week before, and she told us, and we spoke to Maddie. We spoke to Maddie. We sat down. You know, we are not spankers. We don't believe in spanking. Do you, raise your kid how you raise your kid. Right? Whatever.

So we talked to Maddie. Maddie, we have Elf on the Shelf. We're doing Elf on the Shelf, and we're like, Maddie, this is your Elfie, and all this, and none of that worked.”

Image credits: melez907

“But, baby, after we got that 50-page email letter from her teacher at 5:30 in the morning. God damn it! A teacher sends a parent an email at 5:30 in the morning, you know it is bad.

And that teacher said that Madison is defiant and Madison is this, and Madison is that. And I'm like, oh, what is this? You embarrassing us in school? You doing your own thing. We got something for you, baby.”

Image credits: melez907

“Elfie left. Christmas tree down. If you come to my house, ain't nothing like Christmas is happening. I tell y'all, my five-year-old, judge how you may, do what you wanna do with this information, is not having Christmas this year. My five-year-old is not having Christmas this year. And that's just what it is.”

Image credits: melez907

“She ain't having Christmas at our house. Now, I know my mama. I know my mama might get her stuff, but at our house, she already know there's no, no Christmas. You lost Christmas. Lost. You lost Christmas. Ain't no gifts up in this each.”

Image credits: melez907

Child discipline is a tricky question

Every parent, for better or sometimes worse, has their own style of childcare, which does, in turn, influence exactly how they choose to discipline or sometimes not discipline, their offspring. A lot of parental literature is about how to approach situations like this and, in many cases, there aren’t “one size fits all” explanations.

It’s also worth noting that while the mom claims the email was “50 pages,” in a separate video she clarifies that this actually was just an exaggeration for effect. Still, receiving any sort of email from an educator about your kid’s behavior is going to be annoying at best and horrifying at worst. So whatever this mom received, it does look like she was pretty shocked to hear what the teacher had to say.

However, most parents would agree that it’s downright vital to teach a kid the consequences of bad behavior. Some might even argue that this is the primary task of parenting, which supersedes everything else. There is often a fine line between punishing too much and still getting a message across. Some parents struggle to find that line and their kids suffer as a result.

Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual photo)

This mom’s solution was ingenious, if a bit controversial

This is perhaps why “taking away” Christmas is not a terrible idea. She already says she doesn’t believe in corporal punishment, which is good, it’s an outdated idea. At the same time, she needs Maddie to know that there are consequences for her behavior, even when her mom or dad isn’t around.

So why not use a bit of Christmas magic? “Taking away” Christmas is a solid reminder that one can’t just get away with anything, without actually harming the child. There are still some limitations. For example, there is an entire ethical debate about if someone is “good” because it’s who they are inside or are they just avoiding punishment? Ultimately, it’s working out these details that make parenting a complicated task.

In this case, it would appear that the daughter is still learning that she shouldn’t be a menace because it means no gifts, not because one should just not be a menace. However, it’s still probably for the best to make sure her teachers, now and in the future, aren’t going through hell because of her behavior.