PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Nowadays, thanks to social media, embarrassing our kids has gotten a lot easier.
And while some viral videos area moms created here at home might have done just that, the videos also helped them boost their businesses.
These hilarious souped-up social clips are the focus of this Reasons to Smile segment.
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey describes how back in the day when his mom wanted to embarrass him, she would just hang her head out of the car window and lay on the horn like a zillion times when she dropped him off at school.
But thanks to social media, specifically on Instagram reels and TikTok, the mom game has gotten strong! Some of the content is helping a number of them make some extra cash while leaving many of us laughing at the same time.
Parents, remember those single-digit days when you may have struggled to get your kids to wear a coat?
For the Dallas mom of four, Nikki Nardell, she used that moment to call out her kids in style, quoting a popular song with the lyrics, "you look so dumb right now."
Then there was also this gem on Instagram reels when Nikki's little one might have fibbed about brushing his teeth before heading to class. This time, she used a song with the lyrics, "you lied to me!"
"Those songs aren't going out of style when you have to wear your jacket," Nikki Nardell says.
But Nikki admits it took some time to figure it all out.
"The reels were really hard for me. They didn't get easy until I got a dog," she said. "Then I started spilling over into my family and side hustle life."
This helped with her side baking business. Despite the time and creativity that she puts into her content, Nikki's ten-year-old twins, Jake and Lucey, aren't all that impressed.
Ryan Leckey asked Nikki's twins about what they think about their mom's social media.
"I'm fine with it. I don't really care," Jake Olmstead, Nikki's son, said. "I'm fine with her on Instagram."
Lucy Olmstead, Nikki's daughter, talked about seeing her mom online.
"Actually, today, I was seeing her and was like this. It was kind of weird," Lucy said.
Like Nikki and her family, Janice Watts also lives in the Dallas area. The wife and mother of two daughters took her passion for "the 'gram" and became an influencer of sorts for all types of products.
"You can turn it into a business, really," Janice Watts said. "You can use it for so many things now."
But Janice's most viral video, which received more than 20,000 hits, was when she pulled this prank on her husband.
"Hi, this is Marie, calling you back from the Gucci store. We did charge your card, and it did go through successfully, so $11,000 was charged to your account," the prank video says.
New York City-based chef LeeSandra Moore-Abney who often visits the Poconos, is also keeping it real on reels. She often posts content of her cooking classes
"We're gonna call it an okra veggie medley," LeeSandra says in one of her videos.
She also highlights her passion for jumping rope with the 40+ Double Dutch Club in Tobyhanna.
LeeSandra credits her four kids for keeping her fl, including daughter Noel.
"She definitely did hook me up. My very first TikTok, she helped me with [it]. I didn't know what to do," LeeSandra says of her daughter.
"I think she is ahead of me," Noel Abney, LeeSandra's daughter, said.
And no matter how old your kids get, there's a little jolt of joy all parents can still experience, including Kristin Fritz from Hazleton, when their children's friends find them online and start asking questions.
Ryan asked Kristin about her kids' responses when their friends see her videos.
"My son just kind of shakes his head and said, 'that's not my mom.' And it's, of course, totally me," Kristin Fritz said. "I'm not going to stop."