An indoor security camera recently recorded a touching moment between a mother and her 8-year-old daughter highlighting the innocence of children.
In the footage, Storm Patterson’s daughter recounts a conversation she had with her friends. The third-grader mistakenly believed her mom to be 21 years old, and her friends attempted to calculate her age. This led them to believe that her mom had given birth at the age of 13.
The 32-year-old mom from Florida shared the adorable conversation that has racked up 1.4 million views in just two days.
Patterson, told Newsweek: “I’m glad she views me as younger.”
The clip is captioned: “She’s so innocent lol even [though] I’ll take the compliment of her thinking I’m young I don’t want her to get bullied because her friends think I had her at 13.”
TikTok/@arcadestorm
“I did not feel I had to explain teen pregnancy with her just quite yet because I feel like she is still so young and very innocent,” the stay-at-home mom said.
“All I said was that I did not have her at 13 but at 23, and we just kind of laughed it off, and after that, she just dropped the conversation and went back on her tablet.”
The U.S. teen birth rate, or births per 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19, has been falling since 1991, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 17.4 per 1,000 females in 2018 to 16.7 per 1,000 females in 2019, the rate of adolescent births decreased further.
Some TikTok users thought the conversation was going to end up being about teen pregnancy. Patterson told Newsweek that she isn’t in a rush to have a conversation about the birds and the bees with her daughter.
“She’s only 8, and parents make their kids grow up so fast nowadays, and I want her to be able to enjoy her childhood and not think about all this grown-up stuff.
“Maybe when she hits middle school, I will have the conversation, but as of right now, I’m just going to let her enjoy her childhood,” she told Newsweek.
Newsweek previously spoke to three parenting experts to find out what children should know by the time they reach ages 5, 10, and 15.
By age 10, they should know what puberty is, according to Dr. Lisa Pion-Berlin, the president and CEO of Parents Anonymous, the nation’s oldest family-strengthening organization.
“Kids change physically and psychologically at this age, and they need to be aware of what is happening to their bodies,” she said.
Patterson’s video has received over 500 comments since being posted.
One user said: “She was so respectful about it tho.”
“What a precious thought; she was genuinely concerned for a bit,” said one TikToker.
Another commenter said: “My mom was 26 forever to me lol.”
“I thought it was real and we were doing a teen mom talk. She’s so sweet lol” said a different user.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.