“She has become a little girl that I don't recognize right now.”
A mom of five is going viral for checking kids’ backpacks anytime they enter or leave her home.
Lovey Edge, who has a 9-year-old son and four adult children, took to social media in March to explain why she encourages other parents to snoop through their children's backpacks to ensure everyone’s safety.
After all, she admitted to doing it herself — not only for her son but her son’s friends.
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“I just brought my 9-year-old to a playdate and he had a backpack for the first time and I said, ‘Son, I’m going to need to check your backpack,’” she said in the clip, which was posted on Instagram and TikTok.
“He goes, ‘I’m just bringing some fun things over to my friend’s house ... What are you checking for?’” she continued.
Edge went on to argue that she just wanted to make sure her son didn’t pack anything that his friend’s parents wouldn’t want in their home — an added precaution when keeping kids safe.
When she dropped him off at the playdate, she encouraged the friend’s father to do the same.
“He goes, ‘What are we checking for — contraband? They’re only 9!’” she recalled.
@loveyedge Back to school parenting tip. Share with a friend! Checking backpacks builds connection with your kid! #backtoschool #bagcheck #parentingtips #modernparenting #simple ♬ Storytelling - Adriel
She further argued that checking her son’s backpack at nine years old is much easier than trying to do it at 15. By doing it now, she was making it easier on everyone in the future.
“Trust me: I learned the hard way. Check every backpack that comes in and out of your home,” she concluded in the clip.
In the original TikTok caption, she admitted that some parents might consider it “strict” or “over the top,” but she considered it “smart.”
“I’m just a mom who loves her kids,” she added in her Instagram caption.
Parents checking kids backpacks is more common than you think
As with most social media videos today, a quick run to the comment section proved worthwhile.
Some parents were quick to disagree with her backpack rule and called it unnecessary, but others shared their own stories that helped prove Edge’s theory right.
“My maybe 10 year old cousin packed his own luggage on the way back from a vacation in Europe - airport security found his grandfather’s antique gun,” one user wrote. “Check the backpack.”
“Yep. My 9 year old Steals toys. So we check bags all the time,” another parent commented.
“My daughter tried to take 15 ladybugs to school one time. I looked like a lunatic in the school parking lot shaking it out,” a third parent wrote.
Another parent recalled that she once made a banana launcher at home with her daughter.
“One day she was super protective over her backpack,” the user continued. “I checked it. She was trying to sneak her banana launcher into school to launch bananas at her friends.”
Other parents gave their own parenting tips when dropping kids off at playdates.
“Also, walk them to the front door and say hello to the parents EVERY SINGLE TIME - same concept!” one parent commented under Edge’s post.
“Anytime I dropped my daughter off for a play date for the first time when the parents would open the door I would step in even without being invited and say hi I’m Madi‘s mom,” another parent wrote.
In an interview with Today, Edge further explained why she checks kids’ backpacks at the door.
“It’s total transparency to build trust and uphold our integrity when we go to people’s homes,” she told the outlet, adding that she wouldn’t mind if someone else did it to her child before entering their home.
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“It’s your home and we are in a new world,” she added.
