Mom catches toddler making a mess washing dishes and his snarky response is hilarious

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 12, 2023. It has since been updated.

Our moms know us the best. Azha Prather always knew her baby boy was gifted. Last August, the internet found out too. Prather shared a video of her 2-year-old son, Semaj, who told his mom she was beautiful, all because she brought him some fruit snacks. "It started with that video when he was telling me that I'm so beautiful. I wasn't looking for it to blow up as it did. I was just recording him one night, he had just got in bed," Prather told PEOPLE. Semaj gained attention for his snark after his mother questioned why he was washing dishes at the sink like an adult.

"And he was like, 'Mommy, I want some fruit snacks,' so I came back downstairs, got him fruit snacks, then got back in the bed, and he's like, 'What's up beautiful?'" she recalls of the moment, which has since garnered over 11 million views on TikTok alone. "All that because of fruit snacks. So it started from there." Hereon, Prather, started sharing videos of her 2-year-old, and many called him "an old soul."

"My grandmother, whom he calls Ma, really told me, when we came home from the hospital. I walked in and she was looking kind of strange. So I asked her, 'Ma, why are you looking like that?' And she said, 'That's gonna be a strange baby.'" "I kind of took offense to that, like 'What do you mean by that?'" she recalls, after which her grandmother reassured her it wasn't a bad thing. "She said, 'You're gonna see,' and from there, it just started moving fast."

Semaj started gaining followers and a few months later, a funny video where his mom walks in to find him trying to wash dishes. "What you doin'?" she asks him, to which he replies, "Washin' dishes. Why are you taking a picture of me?" "I'm not taking a picture of you, but you're making a mess," she replied. "You got water everywhere." Semaj replied, "You got shoes on, though." "What that mean?" Prather asked him. "So, go over there and clean up," he said, as he returned to doing dishes. "It comes naturally to him. I try to keep a camera on him all the time because I just never know what he's going to say. I never know what he's going to do. It's just his lifestyle, just Maj being Maj." The adorable video has over 30 million views. 

"I was not expecting it. I'm never expecting any of it," she said. "I know it's kind of hard to believe, but it's genuinely who he is. Sometimes I look at him and I'll be like, "What did I — where did you come from? Who are you?'" "He loves to read. He loves to play basketball and baseball. He just loves sports," she shared. "Reading, of course, washing dishes, eating his chicken pasta. We also have one day a week that we go out and have a family day." "I have people asking me, 'What do you do? What do you do with him?' And honestly, it's nothing special. I just take up time with him. We read, we do a lot of learning together since I set up his room as a classroom after taking him out of daycare," Prather revealed.

 As for us, the adorable videos fill our hearts with joy.

You can follow Azha Prather (@awoodbp) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.