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A mother from Oregon has come up with a unique way to capture some special moments as her son celebrates his birthday each year.
Emily Mesa, a 31-year-old work-from-home mom in Portland, has launched a new birthday tradition that she plans on continuing for her two sons, Leon, 4 and Jones, 2.
It’s such a great idea, apparently, that social media users have been wanting to try it themselves, in lieu of holding a grand party.
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“I don’t hate birthdays, but their birthdays have always really stressed me out, and so I think I was just trying to come up with something special that wouldn’t require so much work,” Mesa told Fox News Digital.
Mesa woke up on the morning of her son Leon’s fourth birthday and an idea popped into her head.
A mom’s new birthday tradition with her son, shown here, allow shim to display his authentic self and energetic personality. (Andrew Mesa/@andrewmichaelmesa)
It’s an on-camera birthday interview.
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“I think just having the opportunity to look back and remember who he was at each stage, it’s just something so precious … I just can’t even explain it, [it] makes me want to cry,” Mesa said.
Mesa and her husband, Andrew Mesa, sat Leon down for his interview, but his energy and excitement made the video even more joyous.
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“I loved it because he was like sprinting around the room [and] he would answer one question … then we’d have to be like, ‘OK, come on, we just have a couple more things we want to ask you,’ and he was excited about it,” Mesa recalled.
Mesa came up with the idea to interview her son on his birthday each year as a way of remembering what he was like at all of his stages in life. (Emily Mesa)
Mesa said she loved how genuine Leon’s answers were and how the interview “captured exactly who he is” without anyone putting pressure on him or telling him what to say.
Mesa chose to ask questions that would get him excited, like, “Who is your favorite superhero?” — to which he answered, “Hulk smash” while mimicking the superhero sending shock waves with his fists.
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Her young son Leon was also asked, “What do you love about your brother?” — to which he answered, “Giving hugs.”
Some other questions are a bit more evergreen, which means Mesa can reuse them for each future video.
Mesa posted the sweet video of her son on Instagram, where it garnered more than 27.9 million views. (Andrew Mesa/@andrewmichaelmesa)
Mesa said that while she thought the interview was a good idea, she did not anticipate the overwhelming responses from social media users.
Mesa posted the video on Instagram, where it has gone viral with more than 27.9 million views at the time of publication.
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“Sooo cute. I have to start doing this,” one user wrote on Instagram.
“This is beautiful. Definitely doing this with all 4 kiddos,” another wrote.
One user even asked fellow commenters to share questions that she should ask her kids.
Mesa and her husband, Andrew Mesa, set up the interview in his photography studio, which turned out to be the perfect place for Leon to answer questions and run around to blow off steam. (Lauren Cummings/@laurencummingsphoto)
Mesa enjoyed reading responses from fellow mothers who said they hope to conduct interviews for their own children’s birthdays.
“I think that it went viral because people took it personally, and they could see themselves doing it, and they wanted to create those memories for themselves,” Mesa said.
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“I think it will be fun to see, you know, just how different they are, their similarities [and] how they kind of express themselves.”
The mom of two is looking forward to seeing how each of her young boys will answer the questions because they are so different, she said. (Andrew Mesa/@andrewmichaelmesa)
Even though the tradition is just getting started, Mesa is looking forward to looking back on the footage as her kids grow up.
“I think in the future it will just be so fun to put them all together in a compilation and watch them over the years and just, you know, see how he’s grown and remember who he’s been,” she said.
Mesa is looking forward to going back and watching the videos of her kids and seeing how much they have grown as each birthday passes. (Andrew Mesa/@andrewmichaelmesa; Emily Mesa)
“I just don’t think there’s anything more valuable than your child.”
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
Sydney Borchers is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital.
