2-Year-Old Packs Dad's Lunch With THIS Inside, the Internet Can't Stop Laughing
A 2½-year-old proudly packs his dad's work lunch all by himself, and what his mom finds inside has the entire internet losing it.
Tyler Otterstedt thought he was just heading to work. His 2½-year-old son had other plans — he'd already taken over lunch duty.
Ohio mom McKenna Otterstedt, 28, came downstairs that morning to trade off with her husband Tyler, 30. He'd been on breakfast duty with their two kids while she got ready. Tyler's lunchbox was sitting open on the counter, and McKenna just assumed he'd packed it himself.
Then she did what any curious mom would do. She peeked.
First item: two applesauce pouches. Cute. Very on-brand. The kid knows what he likes.
Second item: a Tupperware container, lid on tight, packed with the care of someone who has watched his parents do leftovers night a hundred times. McKenna told PEOPLE she thought, okay, he's really doing this.
She opens it, expecting maybe some goldfish crackers. Some blueberries. A tiny, thoughtful portion of last night's dinner.
It was the TV remote. Placed in there like a family heirloom. Like Dad absolutely cannot survive a workday without it.
“After a couple of seconds, I realized I was just looking at two applesauce pouches and the remote for the TV. I immediately knew Auggie had something to do with this, and through my laughter asked him who did this. He looked right at me with a wide smile and said his name while pridefully hitting his chest,” McKenna said.
That’s Auggie — first-time lunch packer, full-time proud provider.
McKenna summed up the morning in the TikTok she posted Sept. 8: “Being a parent is so wonderfully unserious sometimes...I came downstairs this morning to find my toddler packed his dad’s lunch with just the essentials.”
She and Tyler were instantly “in a fit of giggles.”
“I knew he understood that Dad packs his lunch and we’ve often cleaned up dinner leftovers together using the Tupperware, but I had no idea he could copy us,” she said.
And Auggie was not done. Auggie has a speech delay and primarily communicates through “ASL, minimal expressive vocalizations, and with a communication device (AAC)” — “essentially an iPad with pictures that acts as his voice.” For the rest of the day, he kept tapping it to present his work: “Dada. Work. Lunch. Auggie.”
“Every single time I would laugh,” McKenna said. Later he signed in ASL, “Work. Dad, together.” He wasn’t just packing lunch. He was trying to come along for the shift.
McKenna said she posted the video because “people are desperate for a bit of joy these days online.”
“What is better than the innocence of a child? In my view, the innate empathy of little humans that reminds us there is good inside all of us,” she said. “What was wonderful about this video, unlike some of my past viral videos, is that there was not a single hateful or rude comment. Everyone was just sharing in the joy of a child who loves their parent. These days, what more can you ask for?”
(Courtesy of McKenna Otterstedt)
The comments quickly became their own comedy show. Let’s review his menu: a double serving of applesauce — because as commenter Baileynoel wisely noted, “Two applesauces just in case 🥲” — and one TV remote, carefully placed in a Tupperware like leftovers. As ANNELISE pointed out: “And how considerate of him to put it in a Tupperware!!!!”
Honestly? Holly Gildea may have cracked the code: “The remote is a sign of great respect in their culture.”
But behind the laughs is why it hit so hard. “Auggie is the sweetest and most thoughtful boy in the world,” McKenna said. “From the day he joined us, he has been just a gentle and kind spirit. I was always warned that having a son would mean lots of destruction and energy, but Auggie is not that in the slightest. He is so smart and so kind and loves people so well even from this young of an age. He is the greatest big brother to his little sister, Coco, and we are thankful every day that he is ours.”
Tyler didn’t get a normal lunch that day. He got two applesauces, premium entertainment equipment, and undeniable proof his son is already looking out for him.
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