When their mom decided to take their phones for the day on Good Friday, sisters Lillie and Harper O’Reilly got the classic instruction to go outside and play.
This is when the O’Reilly sisters spotted a large puddle across the street from their home in St. Thomas, Ont. They thought it would be fun to make a sign that said, “Splash us,” and then stood by the puddle, waiting for cars to drive past.
“We thought why don’t we create a sign and get cars to splash us with the puddle,” said Lillie, 11. “A lot of cars drove into the puddle and splashed us, we were wet.. really wet,” added Harper, 10.
Some drivers even went around the block just to turn back and hit the puddle again for another round of splashes, according to the girls.
Excited by how people reacted in real life, their mom, Taylor Brooks, recorded a video of all the splashing fun and shared it on Tik Tok with the caption, “Remember when kids played outside?”. The post quickly went viral and racked up over 10 million views along with thousands of comments.
“Every single one of those vehicles went home and told someone what happened to them today. I know I would,” wrote one Tik Tok user. “I think the adults had more fun than the kids,” another viewer commented.
“You just know someone who had a rough day at work instantly started cackling when they did this. Entertaining for both sides,” read another comment.
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Taylor Brooks said she didn’t expect her video to get so much attention and she believes it’s because many grownups can relate to the nostalgia of playing outside, which has become less common with kids on mobile devices. (Submitted by Taylor Brooks )
The feedback on her video seems to agree with this view. Many viewers reminisced about doing similar things as children while praising Lillie and Harper for being great sports about it all.
Brooks’s advice for other parents? A little boredom now and then can actually help kids come up with creative ways to entertain themselves without tech.
“Just let them be bored for a few minutes, and they will come up with something. It was nice seeing them do something together; they were just outside enjoying every minute of it; they’ll find ways to have fun naturally,” she explained.
The girls said they “definitely” want to do this again someday, realizing that they can enjoy time outdoors instead of being glued to screens all day long.
“We learned that you don’t need to spend every rainy day inside on your phone,” said Lillie.
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‘Let them be bored’ mom says
Brooks mentioned she didn’t expect such attention on her post, and her family was surprised by how many people connected with it. She thinks it’s because kids playing outside without gadgets isn’t as common now as it used to be years ago. “I personally think it’s 90s nostalgia,” said Brooks. “Lots of us grew up in the 80s and 90s; we had fun before technology took over, so seeing kids enjoy themselves without devices really struck a chord with many.”Source link
