A Wisconsin mother says she was scared out of her mind when she woke up from her nap and could not find her 3-year-old son.
Police located the child 0.2 miles away at a local McDonald’s and confirmed he traveled by himself to the fast food restaurant because he wanted to get some chicken nuggets.
TikToker Marissa Phiffer has gone viral, thanks to one of her 3-year-old twins, Aiden and Aleiya.
Aiden, with his hefty appetite, woke up and wanted a snack. Since his mother and sister were still asleep, he took it upon himself to make his way to the restaurant and enjoy his favorite meal.
Phiffer shared the incident on her TikTok, revealing the terror of feeling like she had lost her child turned into a humorous narrative about the ingenuity and resourcefulness of her little boy.
In the video, she said she woke up and discovered her son was not in the house. The frantic mom searched all around until her daughter said her brother had gone outside of the house.
“This little boy … woke up from her nap, put his shoes on and walked to McDonald’s,” she said.
Phiffer said she felt as though she was having a “heart attack” because she could not find him anywhere in or around the house, but after speaking to the police those fears were put to ease. The officers had located a child they believed to be hers.
“I’ve never been so f—ing scared in my life,” the mother said.
She recalled the cops coming to her house within “two seconds” with a picture of a child. It was Aiden.
The frantic mother let out a sigh of relief. Her son was safe, secure and unharmed. A good Samaritan called 911 and reported that the child was wandering around by himself.
When she got to the McDonald’s, which was across the road from their house, she saw him sitting, oblivious to the chaos he had caused.
“We run in, and he goes, ‘Hi, Mom!’” she says in an interview with Today.com. She also said she was too upset to be angry with the child.
When she asked her son why he left the home, he told her flatly, “I was hungry.”
“I almost bought him a Happy Meal, but I was embarrassed. I just wanted to get out of there,” she said.
McDonald’s is her son’s favorite. Phiffer said when she takes him there, he has his favorite item off the menu.
While the tensions were high, the adults around eased the mood by allowing him to be a kid. While he was there, they let him go to PlayLand for the first time.
Since the incident, Phiffer says her son has become TikTok famous, with people following because of the story.
She also showed on a separate video how she has now placed multiple locks on her door, so Aiden won’t ever creep out again.
