A toddler's scarily good impersonation led to a moment of self-reflection for one busy mom from Minnesota.
Ali Harries took to TikTok, posting under the username @ralphieandatinytot, last week to share a clip of her young daughter, Hadley, doing her impression of mom.
"Remember your kids are watching you more closely than you think," Harries wrote alongside the footage.
Parenting is a demanding, 24 hours a day, seven days a week experience. In a Pew Research Center survey from last year of just over 3,700 U.S. adults who were also parents, 41 percent described parenting as tiring while 29 percent said it was stressful all or most of the time.
Part of that stress comes from the feeling of being pulled in any number of directions, whether it be meeting the demands of your child, maintaining a steady job or simply dealing with the admin that comes from day-to-day life.
Harries' situation is complicated further by the fact she now has a second child, Hadley's little sister Laney, who is just two months old, to contend with.
That's what made her daughter Hadley's impression of her so hilarious yet also thought-provoking. In the clip she shared to TikTok, which currently has 1.8 million views, Hadley can be seen walking around the front room of her house, carrying a baby and multiple bags, seemingly in a rush, looking for her phone.
"She loves playing with baby dolls and that day was pretending to be a mom leaving the house," Harries told Newsweek.
There was something special about this particular impression though.
"It's spot on." Harries said. "As soon as she said it, I'm like 'oh my...that's me.' With a newborn and toddler, trying to get out the house can be a circus. I'll get the kids and bags loaded up in the car and then realize I left my phone inside. Her impersonation is scary accurate."
Harries was left in stitches at her daughter's efforts. "I couldn't stop laughing at the video, so I wanted to share it with others who can relate," she said.
Harries said that while the video is obviously "funny and cute" it has served as an important reminder. "Our kids are always watching and listening even when we don't think they are. They notice so much more than we ever realize."
TikTok Users React
The viral video prompted other parents to weigh in with memories of their own kids' impersonations of them.
"My son will leave the room saying 'I be right back! You stay here. Don't touch anything,' one user wrote.
A second user recalled: "My daughter once 'made me dinner' in the toy kitchen. She only used the microwave."
A third commented: "When my daughter was little anytime someone came over she would says 'sorry da house is such a mess.'"
"Mine is always putting her babies in time out and asking them if they are ready to listen and be kind," a fourth added, with a fifth TikTok user writing: "I had a bad back when mine was little. She used to groan when she stood up out of a chair."
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