‘Someone is getting coal in their stocking’: Mom decides she’s not having another kid after daughter ruins toddlers’ Christmas pageant

Kids are treasures; beautiful little gifts wrapped up in smiles and sweet moments. They’re also terrors; madness-inducing little crazies who break your possessions and wild about the house like rabid animals. There’s a give and take to every familial relationship, but when it comes to kids, the good always outweighs the bad — at least, on a good day.

On other days, however, you really can’t blame a parent for referencing their child’s return policy at least once an hour, and that seems to be exactly where TikTok user @brittanihooper3 landed after her daughter’s Christmas recital went a touch sideways, and all over an issue of personal space.

The TikToker has two children so far, but she’s been contemplating a third. That decision may be put on hold — or permanently abandoned — however, after her second child served up a timely reminder of the challenges of child-rearing. Charming and utterly adorable in pink Christmas-themed jammies, the little one — who appears to be two or three — joins a lineup of similarly attired kiddos on a stage in the video.

Working hard to impress their parents, the kids stand in a line and clap along to music in a simple but charming Christmas performance. Once the waving starts — gotta make sure Mom and Dad are paying attention! — things start to go sideways, as the second-born in question starts to drift into her neighbor’s personal space. She’s soon practically on top of him, and she takes issue with their proximity.

So she gives him a shove. The first is relatively gentle, but when it isn’t sufficient to remove him from the personal space our little protagonist (antagonist?) invaded, things get more vigorous. Her next shove is much harder and results in the toppling of another completely innocent child. A shoving match is thus prompted, mid-Christmas performance, eliciting laughter from the surrounding parents.

The teacher — who was happily clapping along out of the frame — is ultimately forced to intervene, separating the quarreling children with instant success, and allowing the performance to proceed with no more thrown elbows.

In the comments, viewers gushed over the amusingly accurate representation of children and pondered whether or not claims of the wild second child hold water. It’s long been claimed that child number two is destined to be crazy, but there’s no real data to back it up. The theory persists, despite this fact — or lack thereof — but it seems to be more due to the challenges of a second child than to the child themself.

Going from one child to two children is a much bigger jump than many people realize, and it often results in the feeling of overwhelm so many parents feel. Because it was the arrival of the second child that prompted that shift, the blame is often thrust on them, but it’s rarely because the child is any crazier than their older sibling — it’s just because two children guarantee far more chaos than a lone youngster.

So next time you see someone claiming the second child will always be crazy, make sure to correct them. Yes, the house as a whole will become a touch more manic when the second kiddo arrives, but it’s not the second born’s fault. It’s simply a constant, in this life, and one that comes with plenty of charms alongside the chaos, so long as you’ve got the right attitude.