A TikTok video is melting hearts online after a night-shift worker revealed the hilarious and thoughtful “essentials” that her 6-year-old daughter packed for her lunch.
In the clip, the mom from Texas said that she had already prepared spaghetti for dinner when her daughter insisted on packing her lunchbox. What ensued was a collection of random—but useful—items that the creator found hilarious when unpacking at work. Since the video was posted, it has gone viral with over 2.1 million views.
“I was busy. I was distracted getting things ready, the whole nine yards,” the mom said. “I knew she was putting stuff in my lunch kit, but I didn’t know what.”
Halfpoint/Getty Images
Her daughter even carried the lunchbox to the car and made her mom promise not to open it until she got to work. When she finally unzipped the bag, she discovered a mix of heartfelt items and some rather-unconventional work snacks.
The first item? Her daughter’s Beetlejuice doll, which talks.
“It talks. It talks. It’s her Beetlejuice doll,” the creator said in the video.
But the surprises kept coming. Alongside the Beetlejuice doll, her daughter packed a Lunchable, pink nail polish, a brownie, lipstick, a banana in tin foil, notes, and plenty of Jell-O—over five containers.
And then there was the garlic. Lots of garlic. “I think she thinks I’m fighting vampires at work,” the mom joked after pulling out many bulbs of garlic.
One TikTok user highlighted the hilarious theory: “If you work night shift then obviously the garlic is to protect you from vampires!” they wrote. “You should let her do this once a month, it’s so cute and I bet she felt so happy to do it.”
Another user posted: “She didn’t just pack you a lunch, she packed you activities, a toy and protection from the vampires! She even made sure you could touch up your lipstick after you ate! She did a great job!”
A Thoughtful Touch
The 6-year-old also included a bag of chocolate chip cookies they had made the night before, a dollar bill she had earned earlier that day, and a few notes with her name scribbled on them.
“She is speaking volumes with her empathy of packing your lunch,” one viewer commented. “She knows you work at the hospital and take care of sick patients (so Jell-O, duh).”
Another user thought the lunchbox message might be more personal: “She’s trying to give you a sign about how she wants her lunch packed, I think.”
Other TikTok users shared their own stories of children packing lunch essentials.
“One time my son did this for me,” one person wrote. “He packed me a chocolate bar and a tampon. He told me to have a good day and come home with no attitude. I couldn’t figure out [what] was going on…until later that day!”
Reflecting on her daughter’s gesture, the mom summed it up perfectly: “Kids keep you young and kids keep you honest. And that one makes my world spin around. Happy eating.”
Newsweek reached out to @bayoublackbird for comment via TikTok.