A mom has captured the moment she found herself overcome with emotion after receiving the most heartwarming of phone calls from her 7-year-old son.
It's a sad reality for many parents that there will come a day when their child begins to stand on their own two feet. As gut-wrenching as it is to imagine, the boy or girl they once cradled as a baby might one day shun even the most cursory of hugs out of some form of embarrassment.
Though timescales vary, Judy Malinowski, a clinical psychologist, previously suggested that this process begins "in later elementary and middle school and definitely by high school. "As they develop, they start to pull away from their parents and form their own identity," she said in an interview with Metro Parent.
Though every child is different and the strength of bond between parent and child varies from family to family, it's important to make the most of every moment together.
Christine Litteken, a mom living in southern Illinois, with her high school sweetheart and husband, Justin, and their two kids, appears to be doing exactly that. "I am so close to my kid," Litteken told Newsweek. "My son is my first born and there is a special bond about the child who makes you a mama."
Litteken has extra reason to feel a special bond to her son. "Being a mom was always a dream of mine, but my husband and I battled infertility issues," she said. "I am an extremely optimistic person, so the inability to have children never crossed my mind. When we were faced with that reality, we turned to IVF and began a journey that changed and shaped our perspective in such a profound way."
Litteken and Justin welcomed their son by IVF in 2017. Two years later, they had a daughter by the same process, in what Litteken describes as a "miracle and a blessing" that she has never taken for granted.
"From regular things like making food just how they like it, to secret handshakes with both my kids, a special Spotify playlist we hand selected, and movie lines we repeat, I'd say we are definitely best buddies," she said.
Littekin cherishes every moment she has with them and even those when they aren't by her side, like the night Justin took their son to Wesclin High School to watch a local basketball game.
During the game, she received a call from their son on the special TickTalk 5 phone watch they had bought him for Christmas that allows him to track his steps and keep in touch.
Littekin was at home with her daughter, who was ill, when her son called. "He literally called me just to tell me he was having fun at the game and the big kids gave him high-fives," she said.
"I was just enjoying hearing his excitement telling me about the game. When he said to his friends he was sitting by, 'guys say hi! It's my mom.' That's when emotion just overtook me."
Next thing Littekin knew, she was in floods of tears. "It just made me so proud of him," she said. "At that age, young boys are playing it so cool. For him to be that proud of me, it felt so wholesome!"
Eager to share in the emotion of the moment, Littekin took to TikTok, posting under the handle soilmama, to provide a glimpse of how her "heart exploded" at hearing her son say that. "I wouldn't normally share something like that," she said. "The tears were rolling, the emotions were genuine, my phone was in my hand, and the text just sort of wrote itself."
Her outpouring of emotion struck a chord though, with the video racking up 5.8 million views and counting. It prompted others to share similar experiences. One woman wrote: "My son told me the other day, 'it's funny, you're my mom but you're also my best friend.'" Another said: "My 15yr old was sleeping over with his friends the night before my birthday, those 3 boys called me at 1 a.m. so they could be the first to wish me a happy birthday, best birthday ever."
Littekin has been blown away by the response to her video. "When I posted the video I never imagined it going so wild," she said. "What grew from our special moment proved the inspiration for others to share their special moments."
When you look back on life, so much of our memories revolve around the big moments and the big changes that come with them, but Littekin's video is a reminder to enjoy the little moments along the way.
English (US) ·