Parents describe moment they found son unwrapping Christmas presents at 3 a.m.

A North Carolina couple say they found 3-year-old son unwrapping his entire family’s presents at 3 a.m. because “he wanted to make sure it was clear whose presents were whose.” Scott and Katie Reintgen then raced to rewrap presents before their two other children woke up. WRAL’s Ashley Rowe reports.
» Subscribe to NBC News: / nbcnews
NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and engaging news stories. NBC News Digital features NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, TODAY.com, Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and the existing apps and digital extensions of these respective properties. We deliver the best in breaking news, live video coverage, original journalism and segments from your favorite NBC News Shows.
Connect with NBC News Online!
Breaking News Alerts: link.nbcnews.c...
Visit NBCNews.Com: www.nbcnews.com/
Find NBC News on Facebook: / nbcnews
Follow NBC News on Twitter: / nbcnews
Get more of NBC News delivered to your inbox: nbcnews.com/newsletters
Parents describe moment they found son unwrapping Christmas presents at 3 a.m.
#Christmas #NorthCarolina #GoodNews

[@davemathews7890]

This will be a nice Christmas memory for generations of this family. It will be remembered long after the unwrapped presents are forgotten and thrown away.

[@kushking949]

Yeah some rich karens wanted attention and paid the news to air how a spoiled brat does what he wants

[@davemathews7890]

@@kushking949 Wow, what an angry person you are!

[@Xane_Dragon]

​@@davemathews7890 No, some of us want quality news, not this 🤦‍♀️

[@davemathews7890]

@@Xane_Dragon And some of us enjoy a human interest story once in awhile. Why is it so hard for you to allow other people to take pleasure in things that are different from what you like?

[@rickyspanish492]

​@@kushking949You realize getting upset over a news station making a 1:30 long video about a TODDLER opening presents early makes you the Karen, right? What a crazy old cat lady attitude you have. You're like those bitter women on TikTok getting mad at people smiling and being happy. It's ok to take a break from the constant bad news for something nice and normal once in a while. Lighten up Ebenezer.

[@julianaylor4351]

I got up at 5am, on Christmas Day, got dressed aged five in 1966, then went looking for Santa in the sky. 😁🎄🎁🧑‍🎄❤️

[@davemathews7890]

I whapped my sister one Easter because she refused to go to sleep and allow the Easter Bunny to visit us.

[@unrealshrimp]

​@@Stylofo4mthat's the beauty of life is there's no opinion we can ground ourselves on, the fallacy of the psychological structure which tricks us into really believing what we feel and think to be true based on our "reasoning". Alas the truth is there is no truth or correct path or right way to live, it's already done. The right way to be is what we're doing now, are you telling your fingernails to grow or do they do it all by themselves. This is life, the universe even our brains and our thoughts. The highest feeling we can express effortlessly is love. It's easier to love the kids and play silly games with them like make believe Santa clause because it brings them joy and sparks their curiosity the most powerful influencer in a child's life. Don't be so uptight about what's right and what's wrong or I think things should be this way and that way and people should be more like this and that. Just recognize the opinions as either negative for yourself and others or positive for yourselfer and others and go with the positive ones even if it requires encouraging people's ridiculous beliefs. Say you have an old granny who can't walk but wants to follow her cultures belief of throwing a rock down a well every year and can't make it to the well. Are you going to tell her it's ridiculous and what she believes is stupid or are you going to get up off your lazy but and take her to the well to make her happy as ridiculous as it is. Just be quiet with your love, understand the ridiculous reality we find ourselves temporarily caught in. And express your love in the best way you can one day at a time.

[@mr_mhg91]

Wholesome & cute memory, thank you

[@davemathews7890]

@@Stylofo4m I'd rather have my children believe in an imaginary Santa Claus than an imaginary God who does not exist.

[@reptar69]

@@Stylofo4m Please don't have children you sound really boring

[@deloresredman4792]

I don't find it charming. I would have been angry

[@kushking949]

Why is this in the news? How much did they pay for this to be aired?

[@jennifer3551]

At 3 he knows better. But it's no wonder that kids do these kind of things when parents just laugh it off

[@ageeibc6029]

Young Santa, came down from the chimney! Great job. Wish them all a Merry Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. God bless.

[@dave46459]

Who cares??? Their son is a little jerk..how is this news??

[@Thesoggybuiscuit]

Dude he’s 3 he doesn’t know any better 😂

[@LionKamala]

yeah who cares, your kid is a brat

[@nfrankiksa4596]

They ran out of real news I guess

[@kushking949]

I just asked this. They want attention so they paid the news to air this

[@SUGAR_XYLER]

​@@kushking949 Exactly....I rather watch insects, something important

[@ashton8878]

You obviously did not raise him right.

[@DurgaUsagi]

​@tlcooper2.0-ky5vh ok and my 3yr old wudda NEVER whats your point?

[@MM-PrayEverydayForUS]

So when your toddler makes a mistake, will you just toss them out on the street?

[@reptilelover597]

​@@MM-PrayEverydayForUShe is a TODDLER. He knows better if the parents would actually teach him instead of just laugh it off. When I was a kid, my mom would not allow me anywhere near the tree until the rest of the family was there for the present opening. Now the kid is going to think that that is ok and do it again and again. It's like saying, oh my baby likes to grab my cat by the tail and neck and throw her around. That's fine because he's just a baby and doesn't know better. Those parents are pure evil. You don't let them abuse an animal. You TEACH them immediately and if they keep doing it, you punish them or take something away they really want or like

[@visoroverwatch3247]

I miss those days when these types of news were the norm.

[@karenmbbaxter]

At least you know he is excited about Xmas.

[@sappysuds4545]

What a brat!

[@rickyspanish492]

Why though? He's 3. That means he's a toddler. You get that toddlers are not like young children, teenagers, young adults, or adults, right? They're like babies. They're learning how to use the bathroom and speak properly. Why is everyone treating this as though he was a 12 year old that cried when they got a PS5 instead of a PC.

[@reptilelover597]

​@@rickyspanish492I was that age once. My mom had the gate up in the hall and would not allow me to open any presents until the rest of the family gathered in the living room. You TEACH them that that is not ok and that they need to wait. This was not ok and he should have known better

[@marthalong3355]

I’m sorry what this child did was wrong and the toy should’ve been taken away for two weeks before giving back to that child and he showed up also been punished and I won’t say how because there are so many people that will disagree with that but that’s how I feel about it because that’s how we would have been dealt with it. We even thought about doing something like that, we knew better not to do that in our family. We knew the consequences but yet this child is on the news and people think it’s humorous and funny of what he did. I don’t find it either one of them and I think the parents did wrong by not enforcing some kind of punishment on this child for what he did what’s going to stop him from doing it next year?

[@GoodJuju.8D]

Great parents! 🤍

[@Xane_Dragon]

Where ...

[@mechloe8528]

​@XaneDragon - well we all know where the docuhe is....

[@tatteredquilt]

🤣 This kid is never going to live this down ! Every Christmas, there will be stories - and in 20 years, it may end up that he'd unwrapped the stuff on the entire block 😂 Too good not to embellish a bit.

[@shoelessb4515]

Stop giving him after dinner coffee.

[@gargoyleking529]

Not a great Christmas story.... more a story of a spoiled child and enabling parents.... oh he is so cute? BS Feeling he can do that at 3 years old imagine what kind of things he will be entitled to as an adult?

[@kevinzavala106]

This doesn’t sound like behavior you condone. Raising children to be privileged should not be publicly accepted. Meanwhile some kids have no presents to open during these times. Only people who are privileged would find this cute or amusing.

[@kevinzavala106]

@tlcooper2.0-ky5vhI’m not blaming the child. I’m blaming who raised him. All the 3 year olds I’ve ever known never did this. Stop acting like all behavior isn’t learned. Child development starts at his age.

[@kevinzavala106]

@tlcooper2.0-ky5vhpick up a book on child development FFS

[@rickyspanish492]

​@@kevinzavala106All 3 year olds you've ever known? Have you ever been in a preschool classroom? 3 year olds are toddlers. They are learning how to speak properly, basic motor skills, how to use the toilet properly, etc. How little do you know about children to think that a 3 year old opening presents early did so with self awareness and ill intent? Why are there so many of you bitter, self hating, angry, old cat ladies here on this video? How could something so benign and innocuous make you upset and angry? Are you just a recreational outragist?

[@rickyspanish492]

​@tlcooper2.0-ky5vhSeems like tons of people don't understand what that means. I watched a video of an older child get mad he didn't get a PC but a PS5 instead. These responses would all fit under that video, but make zero sense when talking about an effing toddler. Essentially a baby. Toddlers are basically babies. It's such bizarre psychology.

[@kevinzavala106]

@@rickyspanish492 do you know that child development starts as toddlers? If you are one of those parents who thinks because they are young they won’t remember or be affected by something like this then you’re wrong.

[@MyHeart1955]

Okay………and?

[@LionKamala]

I get it if the 3 year old has some mental challenges, otherwise, who cares that your kid is a brat, already 3 and can't understand not to open that, he even had a lame excuse, he's smart.

[@rickyspanish492]

Yikes. What a bizarre and unstable take. I hope you don't have kids, you don't seem like you'd make a good parent.

[@MM-PrayEverydayForUS]

Wow. What a cranky bear. Meanwhile, two kids in Atlanta got into a gun battle over presents, and one kid killed his sister who tried to break it up. I guess this young boy ranks right up there with those lovely "brats"...

[@V.E.R.O.]

People are too lenient these days and as a result raising inconsiderate brats.

[@rickyspanish492]

@V.E.R.O. How is that this story though. It's a 3 year old opening presents before Christmas day. It's not like a teenager opened all their presents and then broke them because they were dissatisfied. People are so bizarre. What an odd thing to conflate and misinterpret.

[@V.E.R.O.]

@@rickyspanish492 That right there is the problem, you're excusing the behavior because he's a 3 year old. They're old enough to know not to open the presents. If he didn't understand he wouldn't have snuck down when everyone was sleeping! And that's how the lenience progressively turns them into brats.

[@PrincessCashmonie]

Anything for clicks, likes, and views. 🤳📈🎥💸🙄🙄🙄

[@bloodlove93]

alright....... so? happy to show off whilst many are suffering this season?

[@rickyspanish492]

Lol how bitter can you get? How miserable do people have to be to get upset, offended, and angry over something so benign and innocuous?

[@GullibleIgnorantGreedyIndiffer]

Mine, around two years at the time, got into a canister of flour and turned himself and the entire house into a white Christmas.

[@cw5451]

Omg! 😮😮😮 What a mess that had to be!

[@pakpala1]

Stop lying to the kids about Santa and Christmas..

[@OIII-IOOO]

…and jesus

[@tabbyreed8925]

They have an entire lifetime of stress and sorrow coming their way. It doesn't hurt to let them have some joy.

[@SybilKibble]

Too funny, I love stories like this. :)

[@moonshoes11]

Teaching your kids to believe magic is real? Is that really your job?

[@tashadent150]

Who cares!!!!!!!!!

[@Anthonyjt12]

Good job parents😊

[@dave46459]

Boring!!!!

[@Former_Pastor]

Agree 🥱

[@Prophet_be_her_name.]

Next year, laser security system and confetti bomb decoy presents.. He'll be 4 and much more stealthy. ❤ 🌎 ✌ Good Luck Folks.. 3 yr olds are running the world 😜

[@hneebrn]

I had a cool gift bag that had a motion sensor. It was like a police siren and it said back away from the presents. It worked pretty good too.

[@DurgaUsagi]

Iwudda taken his gifts to salvation army......DONE.

[@chapter9737]

Of course the middle child 😂

[@youareworthalot1228]

Do not lie to your children I suggest. Santa ain’t real. He is not. Don’t lie. It’s not about Santa.

[@worldtraveler3044]

I can’t imagine not hearing them exit bed

[@Rothydot]

What!? Santa isn’t real?

[@gameshowguy2000]

YES HE IS. OR NORAD WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN TRACKING HIM THREE DAYS AGO.

[@randrewp]

couple terrible comments already

[@SUGAR_XYLER]

And well deserved 👏

[@rickyspanish492]

​@@SUGAR_XYLERWhy? It's a 3 year old? Why is everyone being bitter old cat ladies about this? Such bizarre psychology.

[@rickyspanish492]

Tons. It's so weird seeing people's reaction to this. Such bizarre psychology to be upset, bitter, and angry over something so benign and innocuous.

[@michelleeli6892]

Lol 😂 kids on tge holidays ❤

[@michaelbdumaguing2355]

Allowing a 3 year old with a ✂️. cool story

[@JohnLahren]

As if everyone watching the national news tonight really gave a fudge...............................................................................................................

[@mariaheason2978]

HE LET TO MY SCHOOL

[@cornyconnie.]

Teach them to believe in Jesus and the magic will never end! Jesus is REAL! Jesus is ALIVE! "He sees us when we are sleeping, and knows when we are awake, He knows if we are good or bad so be GOOD, for Heavens sake!" 😄 🙏 ❤

[@sappysuds4545]

Teach them about tolerance and empathy. Goes a lot farther.

[@OIII-IOOO]

santa and jesus both fall into the same category

[@SUGAR_XYLER]

​@@OIII-IOOO Correct ✅

[@tabbyreed8925]

@@OIII-IOOO True but if people decide to follow a deity Jesus isn't a bad one to choose. IF they actually follow his word.

[@Xane_Dragon]

​@@tabbyreed8925 Yeah, they should follow his example.....don't marry or have kids 👌

[@AnnaD25]

💕

[@kellycraddock269]

Omg

[@punapeter]

6.2 million views.... yeah I rather have 6.2 million.... pennies...

[@RarebitFiends]

You get neither

[@punapeter]

@@RarebitFiends don't need either as well

[@RarebitFiends]

@@punapeter 🎊

[@punapeter]

@@RarebitFiends What? I don't do imojis kid, try using words like they taught in school. You go to school?

[@RarebitFiends]

@@punapeter 😂

[@StamperWendy]

😂

[@pawsfurGod]

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@angeline12345]

😯🙄🤪😂😂😂