Mom asks her sons what dad does for work—and their answers are pure comedy

Children seem to have an answer for everything. It might not always be the answer you're looking for, but they always have something to say. However, there are a few questions that leave them grasping at straws. A TikTok video went viral when a question asked by a mother had her children searching every corner of their minds for the correct answer. The Cahill family, known on TikTok as @cahillcrew, gained millions of views on the video in which mom Chelsea Cavill asks her three boys what their father, Matt, does for a living.

In the first clip, the mother asked her youngest son, who was sitting in the car fidgeting with his phone, what he thought she did for a living. The boy quickly responded that she was the assistant principal. She then asked him what he thought his dad did for a living, to which he simply replied, "I don't know. What does dad do for a living?" The mother laughed and responded, "Even I don't know." In the second clip, she asks her middle child, "What do I do for a living?" The young boy confidently answered, "You are the assistant principal." When she followed up with, "What does your dad do?" he paused before replying, "I don't even know. I don't know the exact thing. I know that he works for a company, but I don't know what his job is called."

In the third clip, the mother asks her oldest son, Brady, the same questions. Like his brothers, Brady correctly named his mother's profession but struggled to identify his father's job. However, if you listen closely, you can hear the father prompting the correct answer from behind, whispering, "Account manager." This small detail went unnoticed by Brady, who went on to say, "I was gonna say like sales, some desk job. He does his best. He is a white collar."

Moments like this feel funny because they are so familiar, but psychologists say they are also completely normal. Research on how children understand adult work has shown that kids often struggle to describe jobs that are abstract or office-based. A report titled "Understanding Young Children’s Career Development as a Foundation for Life-Long Learning" looked at how children understand adult jobs at different ages. Researchers found that younger children usually describe work based on what they can see, not on job titles or responsibilities. That is why many kids can instantly name a parent’s role in education, yet draw a blank when asked about a parent who "works at a company."

Many took to the comment section to talk about the hilarious video. "You should ask dad what he does to see if he knows," wrote @morganmorehouse1. "My dad was an engineer... for too many years that I care to admit I thought he drove a train," commented @torgytorg. 

Many also commented on how soft-spoken and well-mannered all the boys were. "I love how soft-spoken they are," wrote @bohbohboh, "All of the boys seem so calm, soft-spoken and mild-mannered. I love that. Gonna make great husbands," expressed @jondrajohnson. "Your children are beautiful," added @tinyrogers_.

You can follow The Cahill family (@cahillcrew) for more family content on TikTok. 

This article originally appeared 1 year ago.