A mother has gone viral for showing how you can spend the day entertaining your toddler without spending a cent.
Caitlin French, 30, is the mom of 19-month-old Cyrus. She spends much of her time bringing him down the boardwalk of coastal Ocean City in New Jersey, where they explore its sights and sounds.
Explaining that Cyrus is up each morning at 6 a.m., French told Newsweek: “We just got to get out. We go to the park, the playground, but we end up on the boardwalk, walking around.”
On one of their many explorations, French discovered a café attached to an arcade. While the arcade wasn’t properly open due to it being so early in the morning, she and her son were allowed to explore inside. It was here that French realized her son would happily play for hours without her having to pay a cent.
He was happy climbing on immobile cars, watching the flashing lights, and pushing buttons for games that weren’t even on—and French had inexpensive, easily filled hours ahead of her.
She shared the hack on her TikTok page, @caitlin.emmaline, on October 14, and the video has over 10 million views and close to 2 million likes. The video showed Cyrus sitting at a car game, pretending to steer, while French told viewers, “Hot tip: Take your toddlers to the arcade.”
“He’s having a great time. I’ve spent zero money. He doesn’t know what the hell is going on.”
TikTok @caitlin.emmaline
Revealing they had been there for “hours” and all she had spent money on was coffee, she said, “He’s just gonna climb on and off the same stuff, push the same buttons.”
“Take your toddlers to the arcade,” she finished. “It’s almost free.”
French told Newsweek that the set-up was “ideal,” as “I can get a coffee, and if he plays one of the car games, I sit next to him and just sit down for a bit.”
“Everything is up and down off of the seats, just to push the buttons. He loved it.”
TikTok users loved the idea, with thousands commenting on the clip, including one who declared they were “following for more toddler tips.”
One mom admitted, “The day my kids figured out the games would play if you put quarters in them was the day we stopped going.”
And as another TikTok user put it: “If you spent money you’d just get frustrated trying to teach him how to play and it won’t be fun for anyone. Just know I think you’re a genius.”
TikTok @caitlin.emmaline
But, as is the nature of the internet, French also received negative comments from people, calling it unfair that she wasn’t spending money for her son to play in the arcade.
As she explained to Newsweek, on a previous visit, she put a coin in the car, and it began to move. At that point, Cyrus “freaked out” and instantly scrambled off. When she paid for him to shoot water at ducks, he “was bored and ran off.”
Having never expected her video to go so viral, as her other clips gained around 500 views, she wasn’t prepared for some of the backlash. However, she praised a close group of other moms on TikTok who reassured her she was doing a great job and that Cyrus was clearly enjoying himself.
As for accusations they weren’t supporting the local businesses, French said that her husband, realtor Zach French, was born and raised in the town, and his family has been there for over 100 years. His mother brought him to the boardwalk all through his childhood, and they were now doing the same with their son.
“So now, whenever we’re on the boardwalk, I get a coffee from that little stand, and he climbs on and off the cars, on and off the games.”
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