A mom-of-two was left regretting the decision to surprise her kids with a visit from the Grinch on Thanksgiving after her 3-year-old son reacted badly to the unexpected guest.
As her aunt hosted for the holidays, Alexis Pruitt from Louisville, Kentucky, suggested one of the adults put on the Grinch costume—from the character in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas—she had in her closet to pay Pruitt's kids, Naomi and Elijah, a visit... It seemed like a great idea.
"My kids absolutely love The Grinch," Pruitt told Newsweek. "My aunt had the costume last Christmas and they both liked him then!"
Eager to capture their reactions this time around, Pruitt was ready with the camera. But while her daughter, 4-year-old Naomi, "loved him and actually hugged him" according to Pruitt, her son Elijah was less enthused.
In fact, as the video shows, the Grinch's arrival had Elijah in tears despite the fact he came bearing gifts in the form of some Grinch-themed coloring books and sweatshirts.
Pruitt ended up sharing the footage to TikTok where she branded the decision to have the Grinch visit as a "parenting fail" and "mom fail" on her behalf given that it made Elijah cry.
Pruitt isn't entirely sure why Elijah reacted in the way he did, in part because of the fact he is still only 3. "He just told me he was scared of him," she said.
She did offer up one key detail that might go some way to explaining his response. "We had just watched the movie and he said the Grinch is mean," Pruitt said. "I guess he actually understood the backstory of him this time."
Elijah's response isn't all that dissimilar to the reaction some children have to Santa Claus. Speaking to Vice, Mercedes Samudio, a licensed clinical social worker and parent coach, explained that this type of response is largely down to age and a lack of understanding about the world.
"Children are developing their sense of reality during the age that many parents begin to expose them to the idea of Santa Claus, which means that while the child is excited about the possibility of a character that will bring them their most wanted toys, they are anxious because this same character has the ability to see what they do and judge them," she said.
"This lack of control is difficult for children to understand, especially since children do not develop the understanding of abstract concepts like locus of control and the difference between real and fantasy until they are older."
Though Pruitt said what happened made her "feed bad" and she "definitely won't surprise him with it again," she also suspects that Elijah may well "just be scared of people in costumes in general."
"My daughter absolutely loved him, so kids are just different," she added. "I'm not a terrible mom for making him upset. I really did think he was going to love it!"
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