Dad's Kids Snuck Out In The Middle Of The Night To Wait For The Polar Express — He Blames Their Aunt For Showing Them The Movie
He thinks his sister should have told them that the movie was a fantasy.
pixelschoen / YanLev Alexey / Shutterstock The 2004 film “The Polar Express” is the story of a boy who is skeptical of Santa Claus. After boarding a magical train to the North Pole, he learns that Santa is real as long as you believe in him.
Some of us probably have fond memories of watching the film with our loved ones while sitting in front of the fireplace enjoying some hot chocolate.
However, one woman’s plan to show her nieces and nephew “The Polar Express” backfired completely. Now her brother is angry at her for even letting the children watch the movie in the first place.
After showing them ‘The Polar Express,’ the woman’s nieces and nephew wandered outside in the middle of the night to look for the fictional train.
Sharing the hilarious yet unbelievable story to Reddit, the 29-year-old woman revealed that she was babysitting her two nieces, six and seven at the time, and her four-year-old nephew. Since it was close to Christmas, she decided to let them watch "The Polar Express" for the first time.
“All went well, they were very excited about the movie, but I figured that was just kids being excited,” the woman wrote. She never could have predicted what would happen the next day.
Photo: Craig Sterken / Shutterstock
“I got a frantic call from my brother, yelling at me for showing the kids that movie,” the woman shared. “I didn’t know this, but apparently, there is a set of train tracks that run behind their house (about 200 yards back) and on Christmas Eve, my nieces had snuck out of bed and walked out to them to ‘wait for the polar express.’”
The woman’s brother had allegedly put the children to bed at around 10 p.m. and found them at six the next morning unwrapping gifts underneath the tree. Their coats and boots were strewn all over the hallway, indicating that they had been outside.
After noticing that one of the girl’s lips were blue and she was shaking uncontrollably, the parents rushed them to the ER, where doctors estimated that they had been outside for at least an hour and a half. The woman’s youngest niece had a mild case of hypothermia.
The woman’s brother blamed her for their outdoor adventure.
“My brother is beyond angry at me. He says I’m irresponsible and an awful babysitter, and that I should’ve explained to them that the Polar Express isn’t real,” she wrote. “The girls could’ve gotten seriously injured or killed, and he completely blames me.”
The woman’s brother refused to attend Christmas dinner at their parents' house to avoid seeing her, which upset their parents. “He says he’s never going to let me see the kids again since I’m irresponsible and could’ve gotten them killed,” the woman wrote.
Photo: studioroman / Canva Pro
While she admitted that she felt awful about what happened, she didn't believe that the situation was entirely her fault.
“They recently moved to this house, and I’ve never visited before Christmas Eve since I live in the city and they’re about two hours away. So I’ve never seen the house in daylight, and had no idea there were train tracks near it,” the woman wrote. “It never occurred to me to say that the movie wasn’t real, all the kids still believe in Santa, so I didn’t think there was any harm in showing them a Christmas movie.”
The woman claimed that she received “mixed reactions” from others over the incident. While her husband believed that she was not to blame, the woman’s brother and her mother were blaming her entirely. However, the majority of Redditors noted that it was not the woman’s fault that the children who were not even hers snuck out of bed on her brother's watch.
Most people believed that the woman was blameless.
Those with this mindset agreed that it was not her job to educate her nieces and nephews about the differences between the real world and fantasy.
“Blaming you is beyond ridiculous. It's a children's movie and tons of children, many of whom live near train tracks, watch it every year. It's your brother’s job to supervise his own kids,” one Redditor commented.
Others noted that it was their parents' job to teach them about the dangers of sneaking out at night. “People who get caught in situations such as not knowing their children let themselves outside in the freezing cold on Christmas Day will often cast about looking for someone else to blame,” one user pointed out.
“Parents are responsible for teaching their children about the dangers of leaving the house unsupervised, and for train track safety. Parents are responsible for making sure their children know the difference between fact and fiction,” another user wrote.
Photo: 6979608 / Canva Pro
Children are bound to get extra excited around the holidays, with the promise of Santa, elves, and movies about magical trains that transport you to the North Pole.
However, it is a parent’s duty to make sure that they are safely tucked away in their beds at all times, even when Santa is coming.
After all, on Christmas Eve night, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse!
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.