On Christmas Morning, a Crying 5-Year-Old Boy Calls 911 to Report a Robbery – Story of the Day

Tommy was excited about Christmas Day because he asked for several presents. But his parents did not buy all of them and told him a little “white lie.” That’s when the boy decided to call 911, and the police were shocked when they showed up at his home.

Tommy’s parents, Martha and Henry, were both prominent lawyers in New York City, so their family lived in an expensive townhouse in Chelsea. The five-year-old boy was used to getting everything he ever wanted for special occasions.

But Christmases were always more special because Santa would bring him lots of fantastic presents. One particular year, he created a detailed list for Santa and asked his mother to post it on the family Facebook group.

Of course, most of Tommy’s presents came from his parents, but their families would usually send stuff too and get ideas from the list. Henry disapproved of his son’s list and talked to Martha about it.

“Honey, Tommy needs to learn that presents are not the most important part of Christmas or any holiday for that matter. He’s becoming too spoiled. I mean, why did you post that list on the group page? Some of the things he asked for are way too expensive,” Henry reproached.

“I know, Henry. Don’t worry. I already deleted the list from the page and explained it to everyone. But Tommy was so insistent. He wants everyone to see what Santa is going to get him. But you’re right. We have to tone down on the presents,” Martha agreed.

“Ah, that’s good. But how are we going to explain it to him?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know yet,” his wife answered. The truth is that they had a tough time saying “no” to Tommy at all. They got him a dog named Charlie because he begged.

Also, they both felt guilty that they worked so much, and Tommy spent most of his time at school or with their private nanny, Alexa. But it was time for him to learn that gifts are not that important, especially during Christmas.

They decided to try to teach their son about giving. However, neither of them expected the holiday season to get so busy. Martha and Henry worked at the same law firm, and they had stellar reputations, so they often got the most problematic cases.

Therefore, they forgot about their decision, and Christmas approached faster than they expected. No one in their families sent presents, as they had told them about the lesson they wanted to teach Tommy that year. In the end, they only had a few things for their son on Christmas morning.

They placed a few presents on the tree and hoped for the best. But Tommy woke up yelling. “MOM! MOM! Where are all my presents?!” the young boy wailed.

“Tommy, calm down. What’s going on?” Martha said, rubbing her eyes as she was still sleepy and had a headache from working hard that week.

“It’s Christmas, Mom! Santa should have brought the presents on my list! Where are my presents?” Tommy whined again.

“Thomas, why are you crying so early in the morning?” Henry questioned when he got to the living room. He was also not in good shape after going through tons of case files. It was the worst possible time to sit with Tommy and explain the situation.

“MY PRESENTS!” Tommy shouted with tears in his eyes.

“Tommy! Lower your voice. You’ll wake the neighbors!” Marth scolded him. “Here. These are your presents. Open them.”

“NO! Those are not enough!” Tommy shounted an unleashed a tantrum.

“Tommy, those are the presents Santa got you. You need to be grateful for them. Santa went through a lot to bring them here,” Henry tried to persuade him.

The boy finally sat down and opened the four boxes under the tree. They were pretty expensive toys, including a drone and an iPad. But he was not happy at all.

“THIS IS NOT FAIR! WHERE ARE THE REST?!” the little boy cried. Martha and Henry didn’t know what to say as their son continued to cry and wail, despite his incredible presents. Suddenly, his father decided that a lie would have to do.

“Tommy, Santa was robbed on his way here. That’s why you only have a few presents. They took the rest,” Henry fibbed. Martha looked at him with a questioning look, but Tommy had stopped crying. He was only sniveling now.

“What? What happened? A thief robbed Santa?” the boy asked with wide eyes. Henry sat down with him.

“Yes, buddy. But he managed to salvage the best things you asked for. He would be so sad to see you crying after all he did,” he lied.

“Oh, no. Santa was brave,” Tommy replied. He sat down and looked at his presents seriously.

“Ok, now I’m going to make a great breakfast, and tonight we’re going to Grandma’s house for Christmas dinner,” Martha said and got up from the couch.

“Enjoy your presents, buddy,” Henry told his son, rubbed his hair, and went back to his room to catch up on some more sleep.

But an hour later, there was a knock at the door. “NYPD HERE! OPEN THIS DOOR IMMEDIATELY!” a voice boomed from the other side.

“Mom! The police are here!” he shouted and rushed to the voices.

“What?!” Martha asked, shocked, and followed him quickly, but her son had already opened the door. “Thomas, you can’t open the door to strangers!”

Standing outside were two NYPD officers, holding their guns with both hands. But they lowered them as soon as they saw Martha and her son. Martha was shocked but remembered her manners.

“Merry Christmas, officers. What brings you here this morning?” she asked with a puzzled smile.

“Ma’am… I’m Officer Santos, and this is my partner, Officer Medina. We received a call about a robbery at this property,” Officer Santos explained, just as bewildered. Martha’s jaw fell, and before she could say anything, Tommy started speaking.

“Officer! Officer! Come in! Come in! Here! Here is the robbery!” Tommy said and grabbed the officer’s pants to pull him inside. Martha let both cops inside their home as Tommy led them to their Christmas tree. The officers put their guns away and followed the kid.

“Here, look. I only got four presents this year, and my list was BIIIIG!” Tommy began and started tearing up. “Santa was robbed on his way to my house, and they took ALL my other presents. You have to find the thief!”

Just then, Henry appeared and saw both officers in his living. “What’s going on here?” he asked, worried.

“DAD! I called 911 as you taught me,” Tommy continued. “You taught me that if there’s a crime, you have to call 911 and tell them your address. They’re going to get the bad guys who stole from Santa, right?”

The boy looked at Officer Santos pleadingly, but both cops had no idea what to say. So Martha took action. “Tommy, let’s go have breakfast. The officers need to talk to Daddy about the situation, and that’s a conversation for adults.”

Martha took him to the kitchen, and Henry apologized to the cops. “I… don’t even know where to start, officers. This is so embarrassing. We tried to teach Tommy that presents don’t matter this year, but he was crying, and I told him Santa got mugged,” Henry explained and hung his head.

Luckily, Officer Santos laughed at the situation. “Oh my god. We never expected this to happen at all. The dispatcher told us she heard a kid crying on the line. She only understood your address and the words ‘robbery,’” the cop stated.

“We didn’t know what to expect, and then, the address was here in Chelsea, which is such a nice neighborhood. I thought it might be a home invasion. Oh my god, this is too funny,” Officer Medina added, laughing.

“I can’t apologize enough. I wasted your morning. Let me get you some breakfast and coffee, at least. This is insane,” Henry offered, rubbing his hair, ashamed.

“No, sir. Don’t worry about it. This was much better than what we actually thought was happening. We better get back to the station. And hey, at least, we all get a funny Christmas story to tell our families tonight,” Officer Santos teased as both cops left.

Henry went to the kitchen where Tommy was eating his cereal. “Dad, the cops are going to find the robbers and my presents, right?” the boy asked eagerly.

“Tommy, it’s time we talked," Henry stated as he sat beside his son. Heaving a sigh, he explained, "Santa did not get robbed. I’m sorry we said that earlier. It was a lie, and I shouldn’t have lied to you about this because it’s important.” Henry looked at Martha for support.

“But then, what happened?” Tommy wondered, puzzled.

“Honey, your dad and I thought that your list was too long. You see, Christmas is not about receiving presents at all. For some people, it’s about their faith, but for our family, it’s about the spirit of giving,” Martha explained.

“What’s the spirit of giving?” Tommy asked.

“It’s hard to explain, and some people never learn this lesson no matter how old they are. But we hope you will. It’s how it’s so much better to give than to receive,” Martha concluded.

“So, Santa gave my presents to someone else?” Tommy questioned.

“Something like that. Thomas, you come from a lucky family. Both your parents make a lot of money, and you always get the best gifts in the world. But other kids are not so lucky. They only get gifts from Santa,” Henry answered.

It was technically another fib, but this one was the best way to explain to Tommy what happened and not reveal that Santa didn’t exist.

“Oh, ok. Well, I guess that’s cool. I still got the best presents I asked for,” Tommy agreed. Martha and Henry smiled at their son. He was only five, so they didn’t expect him to understand their point perfectly. But this was good enough for now.

Tommy finished eating and went to play with his new toys. “Well, that was better than what we said this morning. My father is going die laughing when we tell him what happened,” Martha said when Tommy was out of earshot.

“Yeah, well. We’re lucky we didn’t tell him that Santa got kidnapped or something. They might have brought the S.W.A.T. team here,” Henry quipped.

As Officer Santos predicted, Henry and Martha told this Christmas story to their families every year, and it became a treasured memory. Tommy never asked for more than two or three presents ever again.

What can we learn from this story?

• Teach your children that presents don’t matter. Gifts are not important at all. It’s the thought behind them that matters.
• Don’t lie to your kids. Even if you think it’s a tiny white lie, it could become something bigger.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who discovered her daughter’s missing boyfriend in her house.

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