Liz Hewett’s daughter’s project took on a whole new life in a way she didn’t expect.
Last month, a mom shared a story on TikTok about how her 5-year-old daughter Essie’s homework took over her entire personality in a hilarious way.
“My 5-year-old was Eleanor Roosevelt for Presidents Day at school and since she put that costume on, she hasn’t taken it off,” she shared in a Feb. 17 TikTok video post.
“She wants an Eleanor Roosevelt birthday party. She asked for an Eleanor Roosevelt stuffed animal to sleep with at night. She asked me to address her as your lordship from now on.”
Speaking to PEOPLE about her viral videos — the first clip has since amassed nearly 4.5 million views — the mom of two explains that her daughter was cautioned by her teacher about choosing Roosevelt for the presentation because her first choice, Coretta Scott King, wasn’t even president nor the first lady.
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As she researched, Essie grew to appreciate Roosevelt more and more.
“She talked a lot about Eleanor Roosevelt. We watched Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum on PBS, and it’s a really great show because it makes real historical people the heroes of the footage,” shares Hewett. “There’s one with Eleanor Roosevelt, so we had to watch it over and over again.”
According to Hewett, things improved when Essien’s costume — which was to be an English nanny outfit — arrived. It wasn’t long before Hewett knew this fixation would go beyond the project.
“I said to her, ‘I don’t think Eleanor Roosevelt wore glasses,’ and she said, ‘Well, I think she did,'” she says with a laugh. “And then she put on the costume and got right into character and that was the end of it, I couldn’t get it off her.”
Esie took off her costume to get ready for bed. After saying goodnight, Hewett went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine, and when she turned around, she was greeted by none other than her little Eleanor Roosevelt.
“She scared me and then I was like, ‘Okay, this is turning into something.'”
Hewett had previously shared a video of her daughter trying to brag about the event, which marked her first presentation at the school. She can be seen taking deep breaths and encouraging herself in other videos, one of which has nearly a million views.
“I thought it was really cute, but also really inspiring because you can tell how powerful she feels in that little outfit, looking in the mirror,” Hewett tells PEOPLE. “I thought, ‘This is giving me goosebumps.’ And I thought it was so funny, so I posted it, and other people said, ‘I wish I felt that way when I looked in the mirror.'”
The mom also shared a video from the day of the presentation, where the little one can be seen pouring her heart into singing “God Bless America” with her classmates, who do not come in front of the cameras. She says Essie’s teacher called her “Essie Roosevelt.”
The five-year-old doesn’t quite understand the impact her video has had, but she knows she’s been on the news. “I think she just thought she was already famous because that’s her personality,” he says with a laugh.
“She’s very unique, definitely her own person. I really hope she never loses that,” he says of the five-year-old. “That stupidity, but also, she’s so creative and you worry about your kids, you don’t want them to be bullied or anything, because it’s not super normal to be really invested in Eleanor Roosevelt and have an Eleanor Roosevelt birthday party. But who knows? It could would be great.”
What’s definitely cool is all the different little Roosevelt-related gifts Essie has received from people who have seen the video.
“Someone sent us a real postcard written by Eleanor Roosevelt, Someone else sent it Life magazine with her on the cover from 1939. And Laura Roosevelt, who is her great-granddaughter, sent me an email. She is an artist in New York and has amazing art and is letting my daughter choose one of her paintings of Eleanor and send it to us. It’s so cool, so crazy.”
Essie doesn’t just inspire those on the internet. He also gives his younger sister Roosevelt fever. “My second daughter is 3 years old, and yesterday she started crying and said, ‘I want to be Roosevelt too!'”
“And I said: ‘You can be! You can be Alice,'” the mother reassured her baby.
It also inspired Hewett to return in line with his own love of history. “I’m such a history person. I started reading so much about Eleanor Roosevelt and I knew she was great, but I didn’t know how amazing. So I hope this inspires other people to want to look for that kind of thing.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education