No matter how well you know your kids, it’s not always easy to nail their Christmas presents. I mean, one day they’re all about Daniel Tiger and the next they're crazy for PJ Masks.
But one parent really thought they got it right when they bought their 7-year-old a toy panda for the holidays — until he started saying the stuffed animal was “haunted” and now won’t go near it. Should she hang on to the toy until her son gets over this phase? Or cut her losses and admit that this was a big old parenting flop?
As the letter writer explained in a note to Slate's Care and Feeding advice column, she was inspired to get the toy because her son's been obsessed with pandas lately.
Ever since her son “James” watched Kung Fu Panda a few months ago, it’s been pandas this, pandas that. So it was only natural that the LW would buy her son a stuffed panda for the holidays, right?
“Unfortunately, James is convinced that the panda is haunted and has been trying to destroy it,” the mom wrote in her letter.
It started a few days after Christmas when James ran into her room and told her that the panda was “making scary faces at him.”
So she moved the stuffed bear into the play room and James was able to get back to sleep.
But the problem didn’t stop there.
“A few days later, James told me that the panda had apparently told him that it was an evil toy and that it was haunted,” she explained. “He said that he tried to stomp on the panda and ‘get rid of the mean ghost.’”
She also caught him trying to bury the panda under some snow.
The LW told her son that she wouldn’t allow the panda to hurt him.
She even offered to “‘teach the ghost not to be evil,’ but he believes that no matter what, the panda will come and get him,” she wrote.
Her husband thinks they should keep the panda in their room until James gets older, but the LW wasn’t convinced this was a good idea.
“While it is disappointing that James is having such a strong negative reaction to the gift I got him, part of me thinks it would just be easier if we gave the panda away,” she explained. “What should we do about the panda?”
Most commenters agreed — the LW needs to let the panda go.
"Throw that panda on eBay," one commenter advised. "Someone will give a haunted panda a very good home away from you and you'll get money for a not haunted toy."
"Dude, get rid of the panda," another commenter agreed. "It's not that complicated."
"First, toss the panda," someone else added. "Second, call your pediatrician ASAP and get your child evaluated by a child psychiatrist."
Other people had some hilarious ideas on how the mom could deal with her panda problem.
"Obviously if the panda is given to another family, the LW will learn they died in a fire, arson suspected," one commenter warned. "The panda plush is evil and must be exorcised."
"Start a new holiday tradition: Panda on the Veranda," another person advised. "Tell your son the panda is watching him … all the time."
"I'm sorry, but the house belongs to the panda now," a third person joked. "Get out while you can."
Columnist Jamilah Lemieux had to agree — no need for all this panda-monium, just get rid of the bear.
As nice as it is to believe her son will get over his fear, “what is more likely is that he will stumble upon it in its hiding place and get upset,” she wrote. Unfortunately, once a kid finds a toy creepy, it’s pretty hard to change their mind.
“It seems to me that you should cut your losses and donate the toy so that another child might take pleasure in it,” she continued. “It wasn’t a huge investment, and if James suddenly has a strong desire to have a plush panda in the future, a new one shouldn’t be too hard to find. Cheers!”
