7-year-old had no clue his parents were married for 23 years — his comment left his mom completely surprised

As children grow, they learn to understand by seeing and hearing. Actions, behavior and expressions can play a vital role in helping a child understand abstract things. It is especially true for relationships. Children begin to realize the idea of love by exploring their parents’ relationships. A mom of three, Kat Parker (@the.kat.parker), revealed that her 7-year-old son had been making quite an observation about her relationship with her husband, per PEOPLE. In a viral clip on TikTok, the mom shared the comment he made after much analysis and as hilarious as it seems, all we can say is that he’s not wrong. 

Parker mentioned that she has been happily married for 23 years. She shared three kids with him, a 23-year-old son, a 19-year-old daughter and their 7-year-old. Having been together for so long, they have a great bond with their kids. There is much about their relationship and the idea of love and marriage that the trio learn from their parents. Carla Fry, a registered psychologist and director of the Vancouver Psychology Centre in West Vancouver, noted that kids learn about these things by observing their parents’ relationship, per Today’s Parent. 

She noted, “Modelling is ‘everything’ in parenting. As parents, what we say to our kids in terms of pep talks, heart-to-hearts and lectures isn’t nearly as powerful as how we live day to day in front of our kids.” Right enough, the “hugging and kissing” pushed the 7-year-old to make an analysis. “The way you guys are, it’s almost like you’re married!” he remarked. Parker burst out laughing, unsure of what to say. “You think me and daddy are married?” the mom asked. “Yeah, it’s okay if you guys say you’re married,” the boy replied. “I was very surprised that we were having that conversation because I thought he knew that we were married,” she said. 

She further noted, “We have a wedding photo on our mantel that has been there since 2019; we call each other ‘husband and wife.’ So I was surprised, but then I realized, wait a minute, kids, they process life in their own timeline,” she noted. The mom then let him know that they have been and still are married. He then teasingly began singing the popular song, “Mommy and daddy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” Parker revealed that they had been married for 23 years. Ever so confused and innocently, the boy asked, “What! You never broke apart?” Very intrigued by the boy’s curiosity, the mom gently explained to him how things worked. 

She mentioned how they had been together, gotten married and then had children. The mom mentioned that she personally enjoyed having an “emotionally intelligent” conversation with her son. “I hope that he understands that he is human, and he’s going to make mistakes, but finding someone that you love, that you enjoy doing life together with, that it makes it worth it to go through those hard times,” she remarked. Leaving a message for others, she noted, “It just proves that kids are going to process things when they’re ready. And we just have to be there and have those conversations with them. We need to allow them, create that space for them to have those conversations and not make them feel ashamed or embarrassed for the questions that they’re asking.”

You can follow Kat Parker (@the.kat.parker) on TikTok for more content on parenting and family.