She barked a laugh.
“Do whatever you need to do, sweetheart. It’s just decorations. They’ll laugh at you for making a fuss over something so ridiculous.
Now, stop bothering me with these stupid things.”
She went back inside and slammed her door in my face.
That was it. I was done being nice about it. But what could I do?
These were kids, after all, with an irresponsible mother. She was the one who needed to learn a real lesson.
I stared at my decorations and considered what I could do, and as the sun caught on the shiny red sleigh that I’d just righted, an idea struck.
An hour later, I emerged from the craft store, armed with industrial-strength spray adhesive and several tubs of glitter. Carefully, I took each of my decorations into the garage, which I’d covered in plastic as best I could, and used gloves as I went to work.
I meticulously coated every decoration, careful to match the original colors so nothing seemed amiss.
Once suitably dry, I carefully transported the sleigh, the Santa, and the reindeer back to their places of honor in my yard.
I added another generous layer of spray adhesive, just to be sure. I also made a sign that read: “Caution: Property Protected by Holiday Magic!”
Afterward, I went inside and waited. Sure enough, as soon as the sun set, I heard giggles.
I peeked through the curtains and saw Ethan lead the charge, with Mia and Jacob close behind.
“Look at this stupid sign!” he laughed as he kicked it, making his siblings giggle even louder.
Then, they made a beeline for the sleigh.
Ethan climbed in and grabbed the glitter-coated reins. Mia ran her hands along the reindeer’s back, while Jacob tried to pull off one of the gift boxes near the base of the sleigh.
None of them noticed anything for a few seconds.
But then came an “Eww!”, swift and satisfying, like music to my ears.
“Why is this sticky?” Ethan yelped, pulling his hand back.
Mia stared at her hands, now covered in glitter. “I’m shining!” she said, not seeming too upset, but I knew who would be soon.
Jacob, the youngest, frowned.
“It won’t come off!” He rubbed his hands on his pants, only spreading the glitter further.
Ethan got out of the sleigh and noticed his clothes were also covered in glitter. He urged the others to go back to their house, and I heard them screaming, “Mom!”
With a steaming cup of hot cocoa in hand and a pashmina wrapped around my shoulders, I went out and sat on my porch.
It took only a few minutes for Linda to storm out. “What did you do?” she shrieked, pointing at her house where her kids waited, covered in glitter.
I shrugged.
“I warned you, Linda. I had to protect my property.”
“You’re insane!” she yelled. “Do you know how hard it is to get glitter out of clothes?
Out of the house?”
“Maybe if your kids hadn’t touched my stuff, they wouldn’t be covered in it,” I said, taking a sip of my cocoa.
Linda huffed, muttering about my “pettiness” as she stomped back to her house.
Later that evening, I saw her dragging a vacuum cleaner out of her car from my window. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
It took them days to get rid of all the glitter. Justice, it seemed, came bright and shiny this time of the year.
Her kids stayed clear of my yard from that day on, and surprisingly, other neighbors heard what I’d done and thanked me.
Turns out, Linda’s kids had messed with their decorations too.
So, would I do it again? Absolutely.
And next Christmas, I’m going even bigger with my Christmas spirit. Just to spite Linda.
