Mom Explains How Her Toddler Escaped The House During His Naptime To Make A Stop At McDonald's
"You never think it can happen to you, until it does!!"
@mamarissax2 / TikTok When a mother woke up from a nap, her heart dropped upon realizing that her toddler was missing. After frantically checking the house and outside, she finally found him in one of the most unexpected places.
The little boy had walked down to a McDonald’s down the street while he was supposed to be taking a nap.
Marissa Jalea, a mother of two, took to TikTok to share the heart-stopping yet hilarious story of how her three-year-old son, Aiden, slipped out of the house during naptime to visit the fast food chain. In a video that has been viewed over 3 million times, Jalea documents the aftermath of the incident from her car with little Aiden strapped safely in his car seat.
“I had to run out of my front door because this little boy was not here,” she says, pointing to Aiden.
According to Jalea, she put Aiden and his twin sister down for a nap in the middle of the day, eventually falling asleep herself. When she woke up, Aiden was nowhere to be found.
Jalea searched the basement, the front yard, the backyard, and around the block with no luck. When she eventually found him, she could not believe where he had wandered off to.
“This little boy woke up from a nap, put his shoes on, and walked to McDonald’s,” she says.
Jalea claims that the McDonald’s in question is less than a quarter of a mile away from her house. The mother also shared a short clip of herself retrieving her son from the restaurant, where police officers were present.
“I don’t know what time he left the house, I don’t know how he left the house, we all were asleep,” Jalea explains. “It’s not funny, but it’s hilarious because his fata— went to McDonald’s.”
She admits that she had never been more scared in her life waking up and realizing that her son was gone.
Jalea wrote in her video’s caption that she replaced her basement door to prevent Aiden from sneaking out again, and is currently looking to make improvements on her front door as well.
She also has a message for her fellow parents: “You never think it can happen to you, till it does!!”
Other parents shared their own similar experiences of their young children escaping.
“Oh, man. I’m so glad he’s ok. This happened to me too but luckily neighbors got him. I started using that safety stick under the knob,” one TikTok user commented.
“When my son was five, he took his bike to the grocery store with a quarter. Someone paid for his candy before I found him!” another user revealed.
It only takes a matter of seconds for a young child to disappear from your sight.
As Jalea states, even if you believe it can never happen to you, it is always best to ensure that you have the appropriate safety measures in place at home to prevent your children from slipping out, including locks, alarms, and outdoor cameras.
Thankfully, in a follow-up video, Jalea shares that she installed a child-proof lock on her front door to prevent another incident like the one she experienced from happening again.
It seems as if the next time Aiden wants McDonald’s, he’s going to have to ask his mom for a life next time!
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.