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Original poster

Neighbours complaining about reindeer food

388 replies

wasteful26 · 26/12/2025 23:45

Elder dc bought a bag of porridge on Xmas Eve to mix with glitter with their younger siblings and put out for the “reindeer”
As dc do on Xmas Eve they got carried away and as well as putting the food in our front garden they sprinkled it on the public road.
A neighbour who we do not know by name but to smile at had posted on the local FB page complaining about the mess which went over our heads but he then confronted dh in the street today when he was getting in his car.
Because of the old dry weather the porridge is still laying in the street.
Dh being his usual non diplomatic self wasn’t exactly friendly towards neighbour.
Ive no intentions of going out with a brush and shovel for what is a few handfuls of oats and it’s to rain in the next few days anyway but am wondering if this is something that others would be upset about in their street?

OP posts:
SharonEllis · 27/12/2025 10:16

BlackCat14 · 27/12/2025 09:43

You can get some that is wildlife friendly though- and OP didn’t specify. I said I was assuming hers wasn’t harmful as I hate to think anyone nowadays would put general
glitter out, knowing the dangers.

Show quote history

Can you post a link to wildlife friendly glitter? I've never come across it. Edible to humans glitter is certainly still dangerous to wildlife.

wandawaves · 27/12/2025 10:16

HelpMeGetThrough · 27/12/2025 09:49

OP will be headline news later after having the front door clattered in with the big red key, tasered and arrested by 10 coppers.

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Don't forget the husband! There'll be bodycam footage of a scuffle, ending in him being tackled and face down on the ground in handcuffs, after being "his usual non diplomatic self" who "wasn’t exactly friendly" to the cops.

Goldengirl123 · 27/12/2025 10:17

You should have cleared it up!!! I can’t imagine what mess it must have caused. I can’t understand at all how you can’t see that your are in the wrong

PuggyPuggyPuggy · 27/12/2025 10:19

Aww, c'mon. We're now encouraging kids to be kind to imaginary animals by throwing toxic crap around the place, to be eaten and cause harm to actual animals? It's not great, is it? It's up there with balloon releases in memory of dead pets.

(I'm guessing any "overspill" inside OP's house - from the delightful kids totally justifiably getting a bit carried away on christmas eve - was probably cleared up fairly quickly, and not left to biodegrade over time)

UxmalFan · 27/12/2025 10:19

Why can't you sweep it up? It's your mess.

EligibleTern · 27/12/2025 10:19

I wish I hadn't read this :( wildlife have a tough enough time without people like you actively allowing them to be poisoned because you can't be bothered to clean it up.

Parkerpenny · 27/12/2025 10:21

It would be quicker to sweeping up than log on to post on mumsnet.

Herewegoagainandagainandagain · 27/12/2025 10:28

Ah yes, the true spirit of Christmas: environmental damage, dead wildlife, rat buffets and irritated neighbours. Ho ho ho.

Lifelover16 · 27/12/2025 10:29

I agree with other posters who say get out there and sweep it up. So lazy to leave a mess for everyone else to look at, attract vermin and possibly dangerous to wildlife.

OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon · 27/12/2025 10:29

'as well as putting the food in our front garden they sprinkled it on the public road.'
' they were sprinkling/throwing around the garden so anything over the fence is “overspill” '

so which of the above is it ?!

and...

don't oats / porridge swell when wet and go all horrible and gloopy ...

yuk - at least get out there and sweep it up and dispose of it in your bin

fashionqueen0123 · 27/12/2025 10:31

UncannyFanny · 27/12/2025 10:07

But surely you still have to explain it anyway because it won’t be eaten the next day anyway?

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The birds eat it off the lawn or it like sinks into the grass. Covered by dew etc

DancingNotDrowning · 27/12/2025 10:31

BadgernTheGarden · 27/12/2025 09:21

I think people are just pointing out that sprinkling oats and glitter in the road may be their Christmas fun, but it is anti social and if it annoys the neighbour you might just sweep it up, or keep it on your own property in the first place. The OP thought it was a big enough deal to post about it or no one on here would have commented.

Show quote history

Unless OP tipped out a full supermarket sack of porridge oats, this is “anti-social” in the same way children’s chalk drawings on pavements are: i.e. only if you’re the kind of joyless curmudgeon who makes policing their neighbourhood via FB a personality trait. Normal people seeing it just think: ah, cute - hope the little ones enjoyed some Christmas Magic.

Onlyonthetelly · 27/12/2025 10:32

Looks like the very clear verdict is that you should clear it all up (and not do it again!)

Makemineacosmo · 27/12/2025 10:32

This really pisses me off. When my DCs were younger we did this too, with edible glitter but I distinctly remember DH being outside late on Christmas Eve clearing up the mess, especially on the pavement. I wouldn't have dreamt of making a mess, then not clearing it up ourselves.

notacooldad · 27/12/2025 10:35

Since when did reindeers eat glitter anyway?

giallo · 27/12/2025 10:35

wasteful26 · 26/12/2025 23:50

Dc didn’t go into the street they were sprinkling/throwing around the garden so anything over the fence is “overspill”

You said they got carried away and sprinkled it on the public road.

Why do people invent this shit? Porridge is slippery when it is wet and it will be wet from dew just from being outside and glitter gets everywhere, never mind the damage to wildlife. It also looks awful.

giallo · 27/12/2025 10:35

wasteful26 · 26/12/2025 23:50

Dc didn’t go into the street they were sprinkling/throwing around the garden so anything over the fence is “overspill”

You said they got carried away and sprinkled it on the public road.

Why do people invent this shit? Porridge is slippery when it is wet and it will be wet from dew just from being outside and glitter gets everywhere, never mind the damage to wildlife. It also looks awful.

MILLYmo0se · 27/12/2025 10:36

wasteful26 · 26/12/2025 23:45

Elder dc bought a bag of porridge on Xmas Eve to mix with glitter with their younger siblings and put out for the “reindeer”
As dc do on Xmas Eve they got carried away and as well as putting the food in our front garden they sprinkled it on the public road.
A neighbour who we do not know by name but to smile at had posted on the local FB page complaining about the mess which went over our heads but he then confronted dh in the street today when he was getting in his car.
Because of the old dry weather the porridge is still laying in the street.
Dh being his usual non diplomatic self wasn’t exactly friendly towards neighbour.
Ive no intentions of going out with a brush and shovel for what is a few handfuls of oats and it’s to rain in the next few days anyway but am wondering if this is something that others would be upset about in their street?

How do you think the rain is going to help matters? Surely that ll turn the oats into more of a mess if anything, it's not going to wash it away

SayWhatty · 27/12/2025 10:37

Just brush it up before it becomes a sticky mess.
If I was your neighbour I wouldn't have approached you, but I would have thought you were a bit of a dick for littering the street with glitter and food. Your husband is rude.

GentleSheep · 27/12/2025 10:37

Glitter? Awful stuff. Please go clean up the mess and don't use it again.

DancingNotDrowning · 27/12/2025 10:38

52inJan · 27/12/2025 10:13

😆 the irony of your post 🤣

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💀

Only if you believe that 200 posters sanctimoniously, bloviating about the dangers of a tsp of glitter whilst simultaneously wreaking 100 times the havoc they are bemoaning without a second thought doesn’t warrant being handed a firm grip.

LamettaTime · 27/12/2025 10:39

wasteful26 · 26/12/2025 23:50

Dc didn’t go into the street they were sprinkling/throwing around the garden so anything over the fence is “overspill”

Not a single thought about what a stupid idea it is spreading glitter around into the environment then?

Clean up your mess

KnickerlessParsons · 27/12/2025 10:40

I wouldn’t have allowed glitter
Actually I probably wouldn’t have allowed the oats either.

KnickerlessParsons · 27/12/2025 10:41

The oats will probably attract rats too

BunnyLake · 27/12/2025 10:44

wasteful26 · 26/12/2025 23:50

Dc didn’t go into the street they were sprinkling/throwing around the garden so anything over the fence is “overspill”

Is it edible glitter? There’s no excuse for people today to be ignorant of the harm glitter and balloons do for the environment and wildlife.