"Once we came upon this new way to share music and dance with him, it just stuck!" Sarah Wallace, a mom influencer in New York, tells PEOPLE
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Micah-and-Sarah-1-033026-c78ddf940e974a478ce9440fcac62b29.jpg "Micah and Sarah")
Credit: Birchwood Studio (2)
NEED TO KNOW
- A New York-based mom and dad are going viral for how they entertain their toddler son during meal time
- Micah and Sarah Wallace entertain their toddler son Shelton with slightly choreographed mealtime performances that have gone viral on social media
- The married couple says the performances bring joy to their son and their online community while showcasing their love for music and dance
A New York-based mom and dad are going viral for how they entertain their toddler son during meal time.
Influencers Micah and Sarah Wallace tell PEOPLE that they are constantly looking for "new and fun ways" to entertain their 18-month-old son Shelton. One day, the couple, who usually share family-related content on social media, decided to put on a little show for him while he was eating and see if he enjoyed it.
That performance launched a now-viral series, touching the hearts of millions of users.
"[The performances] stemmed from something Micah had been doing, which was singing for him during diaper changes to distract him," Sarah tells PEOPLE. "Now that we are potty training, diaper changes don’t happen much anymore, so once we came upon this new way to share music and dance with him it just stuck!"
Micah and Sarah explain that their favorite part about performing different songs for their son is seeing his reaction in the moment. With every mealtime show, the proud parents get to experience their son's joy and watch his attempts to join in on the fun.
Something that started off as being "spur of the moment" has transitioned into a more thoughtful performance. The couple says that they put a little more thought into the performances, even fitting in small practices during Shelton's nap time.
"I think our first one was 'Carol of the Bells' around Christmas time and that one was very much in the moment. After that one, we started thinking more purposefully about songs that could be fun to introduce to him in this way, and we have prepared them more in advance as of late," the couple says. "We just make sure we (mostly) know the words and figure out some moves or learn them from YouTube if we are doing something that has recognizable choreography."
"We practice it a bit, usually when he naps, and then we put on the show for him," they continue. "We also want to make sure we have whatever we are performing prepared enough to be a video that is entertaining and fun for our community!"
For the doting parents, the performances are more than family-fun content for social media. The mealtime shows offer them the opportunity to share something they love with their son, making it even more special.
"It has shown us how much he really does love music and dance, and it is such a joy to watch that develop in him," they explain. "We hope he sees how much we value fun and what a blessing it is to us to be a source of joy for not just him, but people all over the world!"
Credit: Shelby Pine; Birchwood Studio
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The couple, who have over 2.2 million followers on both Instagram and TikTok, say that seeing the reaction to the videos from their online community is "such a huge gift."
"Seeing people enjoy something that is very quintessentially us is a blessing beyond what we can express," the doting parents say. "Our goal is that people leave our content feeling better than when they got there, so every comment and message of enjoyment is a reminder of why we do what we do and how grateful we are to God that we get to do it!"