A working mom has shared footage of the heartwarming sight that greets her when she returns home from a day at the office.
Sometimes a little positivity can go a long way to improving an otherwise difficult day. That’s a theory rooted in academic research. In 2001 Barbara Fredrickson presented the idea of the “broaden-and-build” theory in a research paper published in the journal American Psychologist.
It posits the idea that the experience of positive emotions can help broaden an individual’s momentary thought-action repertoires, boosting their ability to to take effective action and stay motivated while boosting social connectedness and cognitive flexibility.
Mom-of-two Blessing Mokoena, who is from South Africa, doesn’t have to look far for a little positivity. Every day when she comes home from work she finds a little ray of it at the end of her driveway in the form of her two-year-old son Thoriso Ibanathi Mokoena.
“Thoriso is a ray of sunshine in our family. He is always happy, laughing, loud, and eager to play,” Mokoena told Newsweek. “He just started nursery school last month. It is a very interesting time in our household with him learning new things daily and maintaining a relationship with his little sister, Rorisang, who is 6 months old.”
Mokoena’s husband, Tumelo Khoza, is something of a celebrity as an award-winning author and a bilateral above-knee amputee. However, it’s Thorizo who has been garnering attention of late after Mokoena posted a video to TikTok showing the joyous way in which her son greets her outside their family home as she returns home from work.
According to the caption accompanying the video, “every day without fail” Thorizo waits by the garage for his mom to pull up. As she does so he’s an adorable mix of smiles, waves, skips and general gesticulations. Mokoena said that, like clockwork, her son will also ask her the same thing.
“Every day when he sees me arrive home from work he runs to the car and asks with excitement ‘mama ong tletse eng?’ which means ‘mommy, what did you bring for me?’” Mokoena said. “He is a huge fan of cool drinks. So every time he asks what I got for him, he would assume I brought juice because that is exactly what he would prefer.”
There was something so adorable about her son’s greeting that particular day that she felt motivated to pick up her phone and film it.
“I had just arrived back home from work, and as usual, he ran towards me with a little dance to express his excitement. He asked me ‘what did I bring for him?’ He asked if I ‘brought juice?’ I said yes,” she said. “With excitement and sparkles in his eyes, he asked if the juice ‘was big?’ I said ‘yes,’ and he laughed.”
After a long day at work, it was just what Mokoena needed to recenter herself and remember the things that are most important in life.
“I pray every woman experience a love like this,” she wrote alongside the video.
The positivity at the heart of the clip clearly chimed with people online. At the time of writing the video has been watched nearly 300,000 times with people flocking to praise Thorizo.
“You are rich,” one user wrote. “Love this, the way boys love their mothers,” another said with a third adding: “you made me smile.”
The post Sweet Way Toddler Greets Mom Home From Work: ‘Every Day Without Fail’ appeared first on Newsweek.
