Parents often go out of their way to make Christmas special for their children. Some even spend months saving money just to make sure their kids have a memorable holiday. What they usually hope for in return is appreciation, something one Ohio mother said she didn’t receive.
In a video she shared from her car, the mom broke down in tears as she explained what had happened earlier that day. She had taken her son to Marshalls, where the cashier casually asked if they were having a good holiday. To her shock, her son replied, “Yeah, even though my mom only got me seven presents.”
Hearing that deeply hurt her. Despite everything she had done, her son wasn’t satisfied with seven gifts, a moment that left her feeling unappreciated and heartbroken.
The Ohio mom continued crying as she explained that her son didn’t even know what the gifts were. One of the seven presents he complained about was a PlayStation 5, something many kids dream of having. She talked about how hard she had been working to make Christmas special, and even though her son is only seven years old, hearing his comment still deeply hurt her.
She went on to explain that her back had been in pain for weeks from working so much, all so she could afford those gifts. “This really just hurt my feelings,” she said as she wiped away tears. By the end of the video, she returned inside the house, where her son’s grandmother was already talking to him about showing more respect and appreciation toward his mom.
After the emotional video circulated, many people online called the boy ungrateful and urged the mother to take his gifts away as a lesson. She did at least temporarily. In a follow-up video, the mom revealed that she had hidden all seven gifts her son complained about. She also left a letter from Santa under the Christmas tree saying he had been placed on the naughty list, along with a piece of coal.
The lesson clearly landed. When the boy woke up and saw what had happened, he began crying and promised his mom he would behave better and show more gratitude. While some viewers felt she was still too kind for eventually giving him his presents, others praised her for teaching him a meaningful lesson without cruelty.
People Reacting to the Ohio Mom’s Emotional Video
When internet users saw the Ohio mom’s first video, they were quick to defend her and criticize her son. The fact that he behaved like this made one woman write, “Yea I’m not having kids.” One person also wanted the mom to use this situation to teach her kid a lesson. “Turn it into a lesson. Grab him 20 toys from the dollar tree and on Xmas, ask him if he want the group of 7 or the group of 20. When he picks the 20, teach him about quantity vs quality,” they wrote. Another person had a different opinion as they said, “baby take that ps5 back and use the money to buy yourself something nice. He won’t miss it because he don’t even know it’s there.”
Some people felt the Ohio mom should have handled the situation differently and placed more responsibility on how her son was being raised. One commenter wrote, “Y’all aren’t creating boundaries or teaching kids real-life lessons without traumatizing them. Some parents are trying to undo how they were raised, but end up raising entitled children by breaking their backs to give them everything, without teaching them what it feels like to go without or earn it.”
Others saw the situation from a very different angle and pushed back against blaming the child. One person wrote, “It’s wild how many of these comments blame the kid. He’s seven. Gratitude is a skill that has to be taught. From an evolutionary standpoint, wanting more is instinctive because having less is worse for survival. Gratitude isn’t innate; it’s something that has to be learned through experience and practice.”
The differing reactions highlighted a larger debate about parenting, discipline, and how children learn appreciation.
