That camping trip your family still talks about? Science says it’s worth more than any toy under the tree.
As most parents and elementary school teachers will tell you, kids love to tell stories about what goes on in their lives.
And sometimes, the stories they choose to tell just might surprise you!
That’s exactly what happened to Stephanie McArthur when she and her husband, Nick, read through a project her 7-year-old daughter, Gwen, made at school.
"’Has your mom ever left? Well, mine has. Let me tell you about that,’" McArthur said in an Instagram video, reading what her daughter wrote.
McArthur then quickly clarified in the video, "I actually did not leave and abandon my family. I just went to dinner with the moms for one night, and then I came home."
“The story goes on to say how Dad took them to dinner and they watched a movie and had milkshakes,” she continued in the post’s caption, explaining that her husband was watching all three of their kids for the evening. “And when she ‘awoke’ she was ‘shocked that mom was FINALLY home.’”
Apparently, the rare, three-hour-long period without her mom felt like a lifetime to McArthur’s young daughter.
"I was really confused when I read the first line, and then I mostly thought it was funny but was a little bit like, ‘of all the things I’ve taken my kids to do, she chooses the one night I went out with friends to write about?’" McArthur shared with PEOPLE. "After reflecting on it, I realize it was actually a compliment that my leaving for a few hours was a big deal to her."
"A lot of people have commented that it means I need to go out more," she continued. "Maybe that’s true, but as moms it’s always just such a struggle logistically, and emotionally, apparently!"
After having a good laugh at the dramatic framing of the event, McArthur admitted she could see her daughter’s perspective the more she thought about it.
"I think it felt weird to her because generally when I go out, my husband is with me. It’s pretty rare that I go out alone… again, it’s just a reality of being a mom with young kids," she added. "I’m not afraid that she has attachment issues, I think it’s just a stage of life when you’re with your family all of the time, and I’m savoring that until my kids don’t want to hang out with me anymore!"
In the comments of the original Instagram post, other moms and teachers chimed in with their own similarly overdramatic stories from young children about spending time without their parents.
“My son still brings up the time I left him. I was in labor. I was giving birth to his brother 😂😭” one mom said.
“As a teacher, I've heard so many of these stories! Recently a 4 year old told me that she lives with her aunt and uncle now, and she is so happy with them. (Her parents went away for 1 night...)” another commenter added.
“I went on a 3-day-trip with my cousin. While away, my daughter told her teachers she was homeless. Naturally, they asked a few follow-up questions and she shared ‘mommy is my home and she’s gone.’ Mind you, she was safe with dad in the home we definitely have,” another mom chimed in.
