One Washington, D.C. mom devised a clever and funny way to scold the thief who stole a Halloween pumpkin from her baby.
The 33-year-old mom, Becky Reina, says someone stole a pumpkin from the front porch of her family's home last tweek. In turn, she figured out a creative way to shame the robber, which has garnered international attention. The lawyer turned stay-at-home mom posted a sign on the front of her house with a clear message to the person(s) who took the pumpkin that her 2-year-old son, Tommy, had specifically picked out just days before.
"To the person who stole my son's pumpkin: Thank you for the life lesson, this will help teach him that sometimes people are mean for no reason, and you have to just brush it off. Because my son is two years old and cannot read the sign, I will add, you are an a--hole," Reina wrote.
"It was just the mom in me that got upset," the mother of two told GoodMorningAmerica.com. "I figured the sign would be a way to make me feel better and also distract him."
Reina was worried how her son would react after she discovered his pumpkin was missing from their home's front porch Thursday night. The family had gone to a pumpkin orchard the previous Sunday, when Tommy had picked out four pumpkins, one for each of his immediate family members.
"Every morning we'd go out and count the pumpkins," Reina said. "The fact that it was only his that was missing was somehow so much more upsetting."
The photo went viral after Reina posted it to her Facebook page and a friend posted the photo on Reddit. It has also drawn media coverage from as far away as England.
Reina says most people are amused by the last line of the sign, which she says she had to include in order to be okay with posting it.
"Pumpkins get smashed, pumpkins get stolen, of course," she told WJLA . "I was really just mad because it was only his pumpkin (they stole)."
She added that she hopes the culprit gets to read the sign, although the real message with the sign was to teach Tommy that, "bad things happen and you have to just get over them and brush it off."
Forunately, 2-year-old Tommy still plans to dress as a mummy for Halloween and trick-or-treat in his family's neighborhood, according to his mom.