Recently, Rose Bennett ran out of her son Ben's normal diapers. When her local Walmart also didn't have any in stock, she grabbed different diapers and headed home, no harm no foul.
However, the next morning, whilst changing her son's diaper, she caught him staring at the different diaper packaging, eyes totally transfixed.
These new diapers had a different-looking baby on their packaging — one who looked just like Ben! Her son proceeded to "befriend" the baby on the new diaper bag, hugging and kissing the diapers, and toting them all throughout the house.
Bennett, utterly perplexed by her son's strange behavior, posted about his newfound "friendship" on Twitter. Soon, her simple observational tweet accrued over 23,ooo likes.
She credited her son's excitement to this likely being the first time he was seeing someone who looked anything like him on any sort of packaging.
His joy reminded her that the images our society chooses to promote products with and splash across the media can certainly impact the way our children view their opportunities in this world.
Keep scrolling to see Ben adorably showing love to his surprising new "friend."
[H/T: The Huffington Post]
Recently, Rose Bennett of Pembroke Pines, FL, found herself in a tricky spot.
Her adorable 1-year-old son Ben's supply of normal diapers had run dry, and her local Walmart didn't have any of his usual brand and size in stock either.
Determined to keep her cutie comfy and dry, Bennett went ahead and bought her son the size up, which came wrapped a bit differently than Ben's normal diapers usually looked.
The next morning, after Bennett changed Ben's diaper, he took one look at the different diaper packaging, and started kissing, hugging, and dragging these diapers all over the house with him.
He thought the new baby on the diaper bag… was him!
Ben's normal diapers have a different baby gracing their packaging, but this new baby looked exactly like Ben, and he was immediately obsessed.
Bennett eventually tweeted a few adorable photos of her son expressing his newfound devotion to his "friend," and her post instantly went viral.
Bennett told the Huffington Post: "I told him it wasn’t him, but he insisted on dragging the diapers around and hugging them.
"I think he became so attached because he’s never seen another baby that looks like him on packaging for diapers.”
Even though the baby on the package wasn't actually Ben, his mom said, “He was very happy with his new ‘friend’ and continues to drag the diapers around the house.”
Watching her son's budding affinity grow, Bennett began wondering why his initial attachment to the diaper packaging had been so strong.
She realized, "Representation is more important than we think."
Her son likely reacted so boldly because he'd never gotten the chance to see someone like him as a model before. If he had been more used to seeing babies that looked like him on packaging or in the media, he likely wouldn't have reacted as strongly as he did.
Her son's striking reaction illustrated all too well the fact that most children notice more than they let on, and can certainly be affected by the diversity they see around them, or lack thereof.
“I want to see other babies that look like him, so he knows there are others and that it is possible for him to be a baby model, as well.
"We have to make sure they see representations of themselves portrayed in a positive light.”
This little boy's genuine celebration of this new little baby he met on his diaper packaging is a lovely reminder that how we choose to represent each other in the media can have lasting effects on our youth.
What do you think of this adorable little boy's diaper bag obsession? Have your children ever grown attached to anything unexpected? Let us know in the comments.
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