Kid Throws Tantrum Because He's "Not Mexican" and People Are Cracking Up
Published July 11 2023, 12:40 p.m. ET
Unlike many adults, kids tend to have tons of passionate viewpoints about very particular things. Whether it's getting angry when a classmate teases you on the playground telling you "boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider," or uninviting your 2nd-grade best friend from your birthday party because he had the gall to say Mortal Kombat was better than Street Fighter.
Sometimes, parents are left scratching their heads wondering just why in the heck their kids are getting so worked up over something they find so silly.
And oftentimes, the sources of those tantrums are comic gold, at least that's what a lot of viewers who saw Belaynesh Gebre's (@belayneshgebre) recent TikTok thought.
In the clip, Belaynesh posts a video of her talking to her son while in her car. The toddler sits in his car seat with his arms folded as he stares out the window, pouting.
It's the perfect image of a child who is clearly unhappy with something. When his mom presses him to explain what's wrong, the man explains he's angry because he wants to be Mexican.
Something that Belaynesh explains in a text overlay of the video, which reads: "My 4-year-old having a meltdown because he's not Mexican"
"You're Ethiopian. You're African, you're black," she tells her son. "Okay?"
"I wanna be Mexican!" the young boy says, kicking his leg out in the chair.
"Why do you want to be Mexican?" she asks the child.
"Because I eat quesadillas!" he shouts.
"Because you eat quesadillas?" she repeats.
"Yeah!"
"That's why you wanna be, that's why you wanna be Mexican?" she asks while laughing.
She continues in the video, "So you don't want to be from Africa anymore?"
"No," he states.
"Why not? she asks him.
"Because I wanna be Mexican," he states, collapsing his arms into his lap.
"Where do you get this from? Why do you, what makes you wanna be Mexican? You can't just be Mexican just because you eat quesadillas."
Another child off-camera in the car refers to someone else, presumably a friend of the family's, who is Mexican. Belaynesh clarifies to the other kid that the person they're referring to is half Mexican and half Ethiopian.
Her son asks, "But why am I not Mexican too?" he asks, still pouting.
Belaynesh responds: "Because your parents are not Mexican his mom is Mexican, I'm not Mexican. Your dad is not Mexican."
"But I'm Mexican too," he avers.
"How're you gonna be Mexican if none of your parents is Mexican?" she asks.
He doesn't seem to like this response, he turns to his mom and throws his arms above his head, and starts screaming: "I wanna be Mexican!"
"Okay you gotta calm down," she tells her son, before the video cuts out.
Users who saw the clip were delighted by his response, with one person stating that they understood where he was coming from, especially when a craving for Mexican fare hits: "Me everytime I want Mexican food"
Someone else said: "I would make him all the homemade tortillas quesadillas he would ask for He’s so cute"
Another quipped: "You Mexican little man at heart we accept you and welcome you with open arms with some quesadillas"
Another remarked: "As a Mexican, welcome hermanito"
"He’s invited to the carne asada any day !," one TikToker penned
"Don't play with my sobrino like that. He know he mexican at heart," another person said, which was echoed by a different user who wrote: "baby boy you’re Mexican at heart and that’s what really matters!! Look at that lil Mexican temper coming out too cute"