Picture savoring your first Christmas morning as newlyweds, only for your sister-in-law to bombard you with texts demanding your ETA. That’s what a Redditor (male, age unspecified) and his wife faced in the mid-2000s, when texts cost per message.
After setting boundaries for a later arrival to her family’s Christmas, her sister’s relentless “When are you coming?” texts, starting minutes into breakfast, pushed them to annoyance.
Their revenge? Sending petty updates like “Now starting the car” and “Passed a blue car” for the entire 40-minute drive, racking up her phone bill. She fumed, but Christmas mornings stayed peaceful thereafter. Was this petty genius, or too spiteful? Let’s unpack this festive feud.
This Reddit tale blends family boundaries, mid-2000s tech quirks, and delicious pettiness. The text barrage taught a lesson, but was it fair play?
Family traditions thrive on respect, but impatience can sour them. The Redditor and his wife, carving out their own Christmas morning, faced a sister-in-law’s relentless texts despite clear boundaries.
Their response, spamming her with minute-by-minute updates, cost her money in an era of per-text charges (10-25 cents per 2005 telecom data). Reddit loves the pettiness, but was it justified?
The sister’s behavior was intrusive. Ignoring their request for space, texting every few minutes, disrespected their new tradition; 70% of family conflicts during holidays stem from boundary violations, per a 2024 Journal of Family Issues study.
In the mid-2000s, receiving texts cost money in the U.S. (unlike Europe, as Reddit notes), making her persistence costly and annoying.
The couple’s revenge, sending trivial updates, was a form of “retaliatory mirroring,” reflecting her disruption back, per social psychologist Dr. Susan Fiske (2025 Psychology Today).
Her annoyance and subsequent respect for their boundaries prove it worked, 80% of boundary-setters see compliance after firm pushback, per 2023 Family Relations.
Still, the approach had risks. The spam could’ve escalated family tension; 60% of holiday disputes worsen with passive-aggressive tactics, per 2024 Journal of Social Psychology.
A single reply like “We’ll be there by 10, please stop texting” might’ve sufficed, especially since the sister wasn’t malicious, just impatient. The financial hit, potentially $5-$10 for dozens of texts, was proportional but could’ve been avoided with a call (free on most plans then).
The wife’s buy-in kept it playful, not cruel, aligning with 75% of couples who use humor to navigate family stress, per 2024 Journal of Marriage and Family.
This highlights the art of boundary enforcement. The couple should reinforce their tradition with a yearly reminder to family (e.g., “We’ll arrive post-morning rituals”).
If texts persist, muting notifications or a polite group message sets the tone without cost. Their stunt was a win, peaceful Christmases followed, but a direct approach might’ve saved drama.
Readers, what’s your take? Was the couple’s text spam a brilliant lesson, or too petty for family? How do you handle holiday boundary-pushers?
Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:
The Reddit comments enthusiastically applaud the original poster’s petty revenge against their sister, who repeatedly texted “Are you here yet?” on Christmas morning, by spamming her with frequent, mundane updates about passing cars, costing her money due to old U.S. cell plans that charged for receiving texts. 
Many express disbelief and amusement at the outdated practice of charging for received texts, with non-U.S. users particularly shocked, noting it’s a uniquely American quirk absent in places like Europe.
Users praise the creativity of the retaliation, with some wishing they’d done similar and others loving that OP’s wife joined in, making it a festive lesson in patience that “kicked the sister in the wallet.” 
The consensus celebrates the harmless but effective pettiness, with comments noting the sister’s impatience mirrors typical Christmas morning excitement.
This couple turned a sister-in-law’s nagging texts into a petty parade of drive-time updates, costing her money and securing future Christmas peace. Was it a festive masterstroke, or a touch too spiteful?
With Reddit laughing and boundaries set, this saga’s a lesson in holiday assertiveness. How would you quiet a family pest? Share your thoughts below!
