This Clever Girl Is On The Extra Nice List This Year

(While with a friend and her daughter, my daughter and I are having lunch and people-watching. The kids are pretty close to finished, but get distracted by a kid a few years older having an absolute meltdown. She is accompanied by her elderly grandmother, who is attempting to balance herself with a can while helping this kid into her coat. The following conversation ensues:)

Grandmother: “Please get your coat on, [Child], because it’s too cold outside to be without it!”

Child: “No, I will not! I don’t have to listen to you! You are stupid and mean and I’m not done playing!”

(This continues in the same vein for a few minutes, with the child getting louder, attempting to hit her grandmother, and getting a bright red face. The grandmother nearly falls, and a dad sitting nearby helps steady her. Before any adults can say anything, my friend’s daughter walks over to the other girl, and very calmly says:)

Friend’s Daughter: “You know Santa can see you, right?”

(The girl having the tantrum immediately shut up and turned an even brighter shade of red, and tears started streaming from her face. As they left, we could hear her blubbering about how Santa wasn’t going to come, and the grandmother, clearly trying to hide a smile, saying that maybe they could get her back on the nice list.)