Kids can truly be so pure of heart. A group of children are going viral on Reddit after their note to a neighbor about some potential stranger danger brought a smile to the whole neighborhood.
Reddit user u/olliepots shared the note that her mom, Karen Holt, received from some local kids after her ex-husband came to visit. “My parents don’t live together, and my dad does look strange lol,” she hilariously added.
The now-viral post, with over 70,000 upvotes, showed that the handwritten note was put together by a group of local kids concerned about their neighbor after they saw an unfamiliar man enter her home.
The note read, “Ms. Karren [sic] we saw a strange man walk in your house, and we would like to know if you are OK. If you are then text my mom. Love the gang.”
Holt thought the note was so hilarious that she shared it with her daughter who then uploaded the hilarious note to Reddit. “Her dad and I are divorced. He came over to help me cover water faucets and do other things to protect against the cold front that was coming in,” Holt told Newsweek. “He frequently helps but he always comes in the back door. This time he exited the front door when the kids saw him.”
When the local kids saw the “strange man”“ walk into Holt’s house, they wrote the note and taped it to the door before knocking.
“I opened the door and saw the kids in the neighbor’s yard but I didn’t see the note. I asked them if they had knocked and they said yes and pointed out the note. When I read the note I walked over to them and told them how kind and thoughtful I thought they were,” said Holt. “The oldest is about 11 years old and the youngest was probably six.”
One of the kids’ moms, Elisabeth Rutledge, told Newsweek that her daughter, Susie, and the rest of the kids were fast to take action to help warn their neighbor.
“I was at home when Susie and the kids came rushing in, concerned about Karen because they saw a ‘strange man’ walk into her house. They were moving fast they had a plan to write the note and put it on her door,” she said.
“But they were out the door again so fast I never saw the note. And then a few minutes later Susie let me know Karen was fine, and Karen texted to send me a picture of the note. Karen was really touched by their concern.”
Susie herself then explained the timeline of events that led up to her and her friends taking action against their perceived stranger danger.
“We saw a strange man go into the house and we wanted to make sure Ms. Karen was okay,” Susie explained. “We knocked on the door but no one answered so we got worried. Then we came over here and wrote the note. Then we taped the note on the door and knocked again and she answered.”
After the note was uploaded to Reddit, users loved the adorable act of kindness from the kids and replied to the original post, noting some observations about the note as well.
“I love everything about this,” one user wrote. “but the best part is the clear collaborative effort. At least two, maybe three kids worked together to write this note. Great gang of kiddos!”
Another echoed, “This is absolutely amazing! These kids have made me so hopeful for this generation’s capacity for kindness and compassion.”
Rutledge shared with Newsweek that her daughter and the other kids in the neighborhood became close at the beginning of the pandemic, running around outside and playing together while also getting to know all their other neighbors as well.
“This is a small neighborhood, and during the pandemic everyone of all ages got to know each other. This group of kids got especially close and they have lots of neighborhood adventures together. They know the people and the pets who live here.”
This also isn’t the first time that these kids have successfully worked as their own neighborhood watch. “Earlier this summer they were playing outside and noticed that an elderly neighbor’s front door was wide open,” Rutledge explained. “They alerted the parents, we then discovered it was dangerously hot in her house because her air conditioning wasn’t working and were able to get her help.”
In a time when “kids these days” get a bad rep for being on screens all the time or never playing outside, it’s refreshing to hear of a Goonies type gang helping people around the neighborhood.
“I’ve already told all three groups of parents that they are doing a great job,” said Holt. “Those children are wonderful.”
