When it comes to cool birthday gifts, most 8-year-old boys would probably be happy with some kind of giant NERF blaster and a bunch Roblox gift cards. But one mom on Instagram says her 8-year-old son recently hit her with a surprisingly "unique" birthday wishlist and the internet can't stop laughing about it.
The story was shared last month in an Instagram reel by @kaylanjen2.0
The account belongs to Kayla and Jennifer Gingerich, two moms from Indiana who frequently share little snippets of their everyday lives raising three growing boys.
In the clip, Kayla says she recently asked one of their sons what he wanted for his 8th birthday, assuming that he'd come back with something like Lego. But instead, he gave her a carefully curated list of items he'd been thinking about — all of which left his mom a little speechless.
"The things my son asked for for his birthday made me think that he's an old man stuck in a child's body," Kayla shared before listing out the items one by one.
According to Kayla, her son was "very serious" and "very specific" with his requests
Apparently, he asked for a new hat, a pen, his very own back scratcher, a typewriter, and a suitcase.
The list immediately brought a flood of questions to Kayla's mind, starting with where does he plan to go with that suitcase and where was she going to find a typewriter in 2023?
Also, why does he want a pen??
"He's 8 going on 90," the mother finally concluded.
The reel was first shared on January 12
Since then, it's been liked nearly 80,000 times and has gained thousands of comments from people who find the whole thing to be hilariously wholesome.
Many have also drawn their own conclusions as to what the wish list could mean.
"Sounds like he wants to be a writer" one user wrote.
"He’s moving off the grid to somewhere cold and isolated to write the great American novel," another said.
Others reminded the mom of a few more things she should probably get her son while she's at it.
"He also will need an umbrella, a wool suitcoat with suede elbow patches, and a monocle," one person said.
"Maybe you can find an old vintage trunk at an antiques store," one person suggested, before adding another item that seemed to be missing from his list: an old-school compass.
But the best was when other parents started sharing their own stories
Because as it turns out, Kayla's 8-year-old isn't the only kid to put in some totally random "old man" birthday requests.
"My son asked for a green scarf for Christmas when he was 5 so he could sit by the fire and drink his mint tea," one parent shared.
"My son, who is 6 years old, asked for a first class flight to Hawaii," wrote someone else.
"My fresh 9-year-old asked for a weighted blanket and a standing hat rack," another mom chimed in. "Eight going on 90 here, too!"
In the end, Kayla did try to appease her son
In a later comment on the viral thread, she told her followers that she bought her son a back scratcher, hoping that would suffice.
Hopefully he enjoys it!
