Children are some of the most vulnerable people in society. Even though it should be the business of all adults to preserve a child’s innocence and protect them, that is not always the case. Child abuse is all too common. Adults often exploit a child’s naiveté and their desire to please the adults in their lives.
That was the case for the child of one mother who earned custody of her ex-boyfriend’s children. This TikToker is working actively to teach her children that there is another way to live.
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This stepmom has vowed to teach her stepdaughter how to be a kid.
A stepmother, who goes by the name @aaerae on TikTok, seeks to raise awareness about child abuse. In one of her videos, she shows a little girl — her daughter — gleefully jumping up and down on the bed. In the caption for the video, the mom writes, “Im gonna teach her what being a kid is all about ❤️.” The text over the video paints a more in-depth picture.
This mom said her stepdaughter was forced to complete a long list of chores.
“She’s always doing random chores around the house and asking me if she did good,” the mother wrote. “Because she was forced to do long lists of chores in her old home only 3 years old … she came and made the bed without me asking. I told her to go jump on it. She asked why. I told her because here, it’s kids first. Then chores second,” the mom explained.
"Teaching them to be a kid again is the most fun and the most hard thing I've done," one TikToker commented.
"She grabbed my face and told me she never wants to leave me," the mom replied. "I told her she's with my forever and I will never let her go."
The woman got custody of her ex's children after she ended their relationship.
This TikToker is this child’s stepmother. In another video, she explained how this girl came to live with her.
“2019, I met my kids’ dad. He was a single dad of three. He was homeless, couch-surfing. Biological momma was not involved but I’m not here to hate because, you know, life happens.” She explained that later in 2019, she and her ex moved in together.
By 2020 she was pregnant. Then things took a turn for the worse. “The abuse started while I was pregnant,” she explained. “It started off as just mental and then it got physical.”
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For a while, the mom's stepdaughter was separated from her siblings.
When her ex started physically abusing the children, she called children’s protective services. Her ex was arrested and did some prison time. She says he was ordered to have no contact with both the mother and the children, both his from a previous relationship and the child they shared. Initially, she got custody of her stepsons.
But the ex’s daughter went to live with his sister. The mom said “that was one of the worst mistakes that could have ever happened because there was a lot of abuse going on in that house too.”
Sadly, many TikTokers shared that they had experienced some form of abuse as children themselves.
In the comments section, many users shared similar stories about the type of abuse they endured as children.
“I am the only girl out of 5 children,” one person wrote. “My entire childhood was housework and looking after my brothers. Thank you for giving her childhood back.”
"I wish I had you," someone else wrote. "I was punished if I didn't clean how she liked it to be cleaned. Me and my sister cleaned 80% of the house weekly."
"I had a foster mom who wouldn't feed the 3 year old if he didn't do his chores," another comment reads. "It's nice to see that there are some actually good people who are doing [it]."
In the comments the original TikTok poster wrote, “She spilled juice today and told me, ‘You are mad at me, please don’t spank me.’ I got on my knees and I put my hands behind my back and I told her we all make mistakes and we can clean it up ❤️! I’m gonna break those fears for her, it kills my heart that she had that treatment for innocent mistakes.”
All we can say is sometimes, it really does seem like there are angels on Earth.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
