Anyone who has ever traveled with small children knows what a veritable shitshow it can be.
Oftentimes it involves whining. And crying. And meltdowns of epic proportions because “Why aren’t we there yet??”
It is stressful, chaotic, and freaking exhausting.
And sometimes? You just gotta pick your battles and take the path of least resistance.
This appears to be the case for one mom who was caught on camera navigating a busy airport with her toddler in tow. Literally.
In a viral video that is lighting up TikTok, a mother is seen slowly dragging her child through an airport by a toddler leash attached to a backpack.
Erica Shupe Hall filmed the 8-second video from her front-row seat at the airport and posted the clip to her TikTok account, @cacadoodledoo83.
A mother of two herself, Erica was quick to see the humor in the situation.
She captioned it:
“Leaving Cancun is tough…I feel ya buddy!”
Set to the song, “Manic Monday,” by the Bangles, the video shows the mother peering back at her child as he rolls merrily along, limp as a biscuit, not bothered in the least.
Since being posted it has garnered over 15.6M views, 2.8M likes, and more than 37K comments.
Take a look:
@cacadoodledoo83 Leaving Cancun is tough … I feel ya buddy!
Look, I have to say, I GET IT and if I were to poll every parent out there, I’d say 99.5% would agree.
You gotta do what you gotta do.
Obviously, this woman had somewhere she needed to be. Her child, presumably, was over it.
Since abandoning your toddler in the middle of an airport is frowned upon and not something you would ACTUALLY do (even if the thought has crossed your mind, no judgment) this mom did what she had to do to get him from point A to point B.
And based on the laughing reactions of passers-by, people witnessing the event didn’t seem too concerned about the child’s welfare.
As always, upon viewing the video, people had a lot to say.
The majority of commenters are clearly parents and in one way or another have “been there, done that.”
Cuz let’s face it – we’ve all been there, at one time or another.
There is no escape. As this mom of 3 so eloquently put it, “It takes what it takes.”
Kid-tested. Mother-Approved.
As for the use of the leash? Some kids are just born feral (although this may just be the chillest feral child on record).
The video even prompted one mom to pull the trigger on getting her own toddler leash. There’s just something about those second-borns.
Of course, as is always the case, not everyone agreed with the mother’s approach. In fact, they were downright disgusted.
Think of all those germs *GASP*
Another wrote:
“She’s the mother, pick the kid up off that disgusting floor.”
To the commenters saying, “Oh my god, pick the child up!” I just have one question – have you tried picking up a wet noodle? They’re HEAVY. And you can only carry them for so long. Besides the fact that the mom is already lugging around a backpack that is itself the size of a small child.
Look, the child isn’t protesting.
He’s not kicking or screaming or putting up a big fuss. In fact, he seems perfectly content with being dragged across the floor.
As one commenter pointed out:
“To the people mad, if the child was in any amount of pain or discomfort, they would have shown some sign of it, this child could care less.”
PREACH.
Not to mention the fact that the child has LEGS. He is perfectly capable of standing up and walking if he so chose. Which, clearly, he does not.
As for the mom? She appears calm and resigned to the fact that for this moment anyway, this is the easiest mode of transporting her child where she needs to be.
I just hope she got there on time.