Photo: TikTok
His sweet comment brought his mother to cry happy tears.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Mar 26, 2023
In a TikTok post titled “Depression, Anxiety, Mom Guilt vs. Toddler,” one mom got honest about her emotions, and the sweet way her toddler reacted.
Jessica Taylor Hescox posted a video of herself on the phone with her husband while telling him about an anxiety attack she’d had the day before. Hescox “quickly realized I had little ears” listening to her conversation, so she stops describing how sad she’d felt, yet her toddler-aged son heard enough to know that something wasn’t quite right.
Her toddler consoled her in the sweetest way possible.
Her son asks why she was crying upstairs in her room, remembering her emotional experience from the previous day.
"Because I was sad,” the mom answers honestly. “But I’m not anymore, I won’t cry all day today I promise.” The young boy consoles his upset mom by telling her, 'I’m your friend.' The mom starts to cry again, qualifying her emotions by telling her son that “they’re happy tears.”
By expressing her emotions, she's showing her young son that it's okay to have big feelings. After he consoles her, she’s so moved by her son’s sweet gesture that she can’t help but praise him for his empathy and kindness.
“You’re so wonderful,” she tells her son and kisses him. “Mommy just had a bad day yesterday, but today is much better,” she explains.
Her son returns his attention to the block tower he’s building, exclaiming, “Ta-da!” before knocking it down.
Hescox wrote a caption to the post, which received 134,000 likes and over 1900 comments. In her caption, she explains, “I am almost positive that I handled the whole situation wrong, but just a friendly gentle reminder that [kids] soak up everything. Even when you think you are overly hyper-aware, they feel it.”
“I removed myself yesterday for a momentary self-loathing panic attack because I don’t get hypothetically invited to wine tastings and baecations with groups of girlfriends… who needs those things when you have the best three-year-old in the entire world,” Hescox wrote.
The comments on her post were supportive of her parenting experience.
“You are raising empathetic children who will know that mental health matters,” noted one person. “You’re doing a fabulous job.”
Another person shared that showing kids our true feelings helps them in the long run. “They can’t learn to handle their emotions if they don’t see you handle yours,” they commented. “It’s okay to be sad and cry.”
One person relayed their belief that it’s more than just okay to show the kids that parents experience the full range of human emotions, as it shows them that resiliency in the face of adversity matters.
“It’s honestly okay to show them the ups and downs,” they stated in the comments. “It teaches them that life isn’t perfect and when they see you stand back up, they will learn that, too.”
According to an article published by the Children’s Medical Center Dallas, it’s never too early to teach children about emotions. The article notes that children learn to regulate their emotions through their caregivers, so creating an open and safe environment for kids to share how they feel is very important to their development.
Discussing the full range of emotions that we experience is a valuable tool for kids to understand that it’s okay to not always be happy. Recognizing the differences in emotions and responding compassionately to those emotions is the first step to helping kids develop emotional intelligence.
Hescox is clearly showing her kids how to be compassionate, not just to other people, but to themselves, too.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.