Receiving a card from a child can be an incredibly sentimental and heartwarming experience, but after watching this video, you may start thinking twice about who actually signed the card.
The footage shows Jess (@jessfah27) adding the final touches to a birthday card for her nan. The mom-of-one has written the birthday wishes and signed the card from her son, Finley, but no card would be complete without doodles.
Using a pen, Jess can be seen scribbling all over the both sides of the card. The text reads: “When the little ones not here to make his mark on the card.” So far, the video has racked up over 1.3 million views and more than 66,700 likes. It turns out she isn’t the only one who does this.
It is unclear how old Jess’s child actually is, but judging by the drawing on the card, he is likely to be a toddler.
This is because children do not develop the hand skills necessary to grasp and control writing tools with enough coordination to make intentional marks on paper until they are between 12 and 18 months old. Leading provider of literacy curriculum Scholastic says most 2-year-olds can draw a ‘v,’ a circle, and vertical or horizontal lines, but not with great precision.
By the age of 3, some children will be attempting to write letters, indicating a significant shift toward representational symbol use. Children will mimic what adults write, so make it a point to explain how you use writing, such as shopping lists, birthday cards, and so on.
The commenters on the viral video say there is a trick to the hack. Many have admitted to doing it but using their less-preferred hand to make it more believable.
“I do it with my non dominant hand to make it more authentic,” posted one user.
Another wrote: “I bought 3 canvases for my son to paint to put on the walls. he got bored after 2 so I forged the last one. He thinks he did it so I must have done well.”
“Fraud at its finest” added a third commenter.
A fourth posted: “Guilty. And now I teach them how to sign my name so I don’t have to sign all of their reading logs for school.”
Previously, Newsweek spoke to three parenting experts to find out what a child should know by the time they are 5, 10 and 15 years old. However, in this case, the specialists focused on life skills such as knowing what to do in an emergency and what to do if they are approached by a stranger.
Newsweek reached out to @jessfah27 on TikTok for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.