The little man was ba da bop bah dah, lovin’ it! But not so much in the case of his mother.
A mother from Wisconsin shared her terrifying experience of waking up to find her child missing, only to later find out that her 3-year-old had managed to get out of his crib and run away to McDonald’s.
“He was not in the house. He was not in the basement. He was not in the front yard or the backyard,” Marissa Phiffer, the twins’ mom described in her popular TikTok video. “This little boy woke up, put his shoes on, and walked to McDonald’s.”
Phiffer informed TODAY.com that she dozed off beside the kids.
Nevertheless, upon the mother’s awakening from her short nap, she stumbled upon a shocking revelation that made her heart sink.
Aiden, one of the twins, was absent from the crib alongside his sister Aleiya. What made it even more distressing was the fact that his footwear had vanished.
Phiffer mentioned that she inspected the neighbor’s backyard, which is a spot where her child is often prone to straying.
“I thought that’s where I’d find him. They have a bunch of rocks, and he likes to line them up and play with them,” Phiffer mentioned.
The young mother, aged 23, promptly dialed 9-1-1, filled with fear over the potential events that might have occurred to her son right in front of her.
In an incredibly quick time frame, the authorities swiftly arrived at the anguished mother’s residence, carrying a picture of her child, and then they relayed to Phiffer that Aiden was unharmed and located at a McDonald’s just a short distance away, approximately .2 miles from their house.
According to Phiffer, an alarmed member of the community observed Aiden moving in the direction of the quick-service restaurant and reached out to the authorities.
“We run in, and he goes, ‘Hi, Mom!’” Phiffer said, who found her young boy having a good time at the play area of the McDonald’s.
Phiffer expressed her immense relief upon finding her son unharmed, stating that she couldn’t have any anger toward him.
Aiden, according to his mother, is a devoted admirer of McDonald’s. He informed her that he embarked on the solo journey because he felt hungry.
“I almost bought him a Happy Meal, but I was embarrassed,” Phiffer noted. “I just wanted to get out of there.”
Phiffer has since placed safeguards on the doors, such as child-resistant locks and latches, in an attempt to deter the unsupervised escape of the children to the restaurant.
The young child’s intense desire for McDonald’s is so strong that Phiffer revealed he would wake up from a deep sleep if they arrived at the fast-food establishment’s drive-thru.
“Fries, nuggets, and apple slices, he’d eat that every day,” she mentioned. “But that was actually his first time going to the PlayLand there.”
Since its posting on July 31, the TikTok video has accumulated more than 2.8 million views and received over 500k likes.
The readers expressed their satisfaction upon learning that the boy was unharmed and the mother had support during the incident involving the wandering toddler.
@mamarissax2 YALL I GENUINELY HAVE NEVER FELT SO SICK & SCARED! we already had the basement door switched out so we can lock it at night but NOW i need something for the front door! You never think it can happen to you, till it does!! Yall know i got this house babyproofed as much as possible but OMGG#greenscreenvideo#autismawareness#fyp#aidenandaleiya#twins#escapeartist#scared#twinsoftiktok#omg#runaway
“My son did this! he didn’t walk to Mac Donald’s but went across the street, me and my husband was sleeping the cop walked in our house,” a user shared with the mother.
Some users praised the determination of the boy.
“On a positive note he is a go getter and has a lot of confidence. My kids wouldn’t go into a store by themselves for the longest time,” a mother commented.
“I want to send Aiden a McDonald’s gift certificate,” one user store, and said she’s “so glad he’s safe! He is a brave boy!”
WHO GIVES A FUK!!!
And this is what you choose to report. 🤦♂️
Shahn Eggen nah… this is just the one post out of many recent posts that Facebook’s algorithm wanted to show you, knowing it’d get a rise out of you because it’s the opposite of what you want to see, so it increases post engagement in a negative way.
We should watch him, he’s going to be a good one
We can’t see the article here in Canada. It would be helpful if you could put the link to the article in the comments.
Julia Budzeyko Wisconsin child, age 3, escapes crib and walks to McDonald’s while mother and twin sister slept https://theaegisalliance.com/2023/08/12/wisconsin-child-age-3-escapes-crib-and-walks-to-mcdonalds-while-mother-and-twin-sister-slept/