We’ve had ASMR, dance challenges, fit checks and all sorts of crazy TikTok trends come and go. The latest? A viral cookie challenge for parents to get a “feel” of their youngster’s empathy levels. The setup is simple: All you need is three cookies, three napkins, two parents, and a wee whippersnapper. Once all those have been fulfilled, simply place the three napkins in front of each parent and the kiddo, with two cookies hidden beneath the child’s napkin, one cookie beneath one of the adult’s napkins, and leave one napkin with nothing underneath. Then, all you need to do is the grand reveal, as showcased in this cute video featuring a Nashville family.
As shown in the video above, the grand reveal should stoke up some emotions amongst those who’re playing the challenge together. After counting down, the trio lift their napkins to reveal what’s underneath. As you can see, at first, the youngster is super pleased with what he discovers underneath his napkin: Two bags of candy (though, typically, cookies are usually the go-to item).
After a few moments, however, the youngster begins to realise that his mom doesn’t have anything under her napkin. “I didn’t get any.” the mom confirms, playing along with the game. Straightaway, the youngster’s big smile turns upside down and becomes a sad frown at the thought of his mom not getting anything. “Ohhhh,” the kid laments, showing empathy to his mother. As the child’s sad emotions escalate, he bursts into tears. You can see both the mom and the dad trying to stop themselves from bursting into laughter as the child gets increasingly sadder.
In a cute twist, however, the youngster picks up one of his bags of candy and hands it over to his mom in a display of compassion and kindness. “Thank you so much! That was so nice!” the mum tells her son, beaming from ear to ear. The son quickly turns that frown upside down as soon as he realises he’s done a good deed for his mom, and the pride on his face is utterly adorable.
As the clip continues to melt hearts around the world, commenters were quick to express their warm feelings towards the wholesome snippet of footage. One Redditor chimed in with, “Adorable kid. His heart was breaking for his mom 🥹”, while another expressed, “Just a PSA for any parents out there who thinks their kid is broken because they’re not showing this level of empathy this early on: it’s NORMAL and every kid develops at a different time in a different way. This kid is not any better or worse than any other kid because they filmed this super cute interaction on video.”
