12-Year-Old Boy Can't Stop Smiling After Mom Brings Him to Hooters for His Birthday In Viral Video

Turning 12 — or literally any age between 10 and 20 — is a weird time. That said, this tween boy celebrated his big one-two in quite an unconventional way. He went to Hooters. Yes, Hooters — the popular chain restaurant known for wings, sports, and waitresses in uncomfortable uniforms.

But before you go asking where this kid's parents were, I'll just tell you. His mom was there. In fact, she was the one filming his birthday celebration for TikTok. What a fun time! Keep scrolling to watch the clip.

Remember in Mean Girls when Amy Poehler, who played Regina George's mom, said, "I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom"? Well, that is the energy I'm getting from this mom's TikTok account.

Aleea, who goes by the handle @emtmomlife82, shared a video of her son at Hooters celebrating his special day. "Happy birthday," said a waitress to the boy as she placed a slice of cake in front of him.

Then another asked "How old are you?" to which he answered "12."

The boy —who now had a huge smile on his face, btw —then gave the waitresses his full attention as they sang him the Hooter's Happy Birthday song. "He wanted to go to Hooters for the wings. Yeah right!!! No he didn't order wings," his mom teasingly wrote in the video's copy.

"My man looks so happy I love it haha," wrote one user. Another comment read: "Happy birthday. I remember talking my son on his 13th birthday."

While many of the comments on TikTok appeared positive, some folks were a little more critical of this mom's parenting decision. "Isn't that for adults," one commenter asked. "This is creepy," another person wrote. "Something about this is messed up," commented another.

In a cheeky follow-up video, @emtmomlife82, seemed to nod to one of the negative comments she received. In the recording, she asked her son (who we learn is named Alex) what he is doing.

He innocently answered: "I'm reading a Bible like TikTok told me to do because I need Jesus for going to Hooters."

@emtmomlife82 then asked him to read a verse for her and translate what it means. Alex complied, but whatever lesson he learned about sinning went in one ear and then out the other when asked if he wanted to go to Hooters again. "Hell yeah," he said excitedly.

The video was obviously meant to tease the situation even more, but of course, not everyone thought it was funny.

"He better be asking for forgiveness after Hooters lol," one person wrote. Another shared, "My son wouldn’t even want to go to a place like that! If I tried to bring him somewhere like that he would walk right back out."

Bottom line: Everyone always has something negative to say about someone else's parenting. But if you ask me, @emtmomlife82 looks like she has a great relationship with her son. He's featured in several of her videos. Plus, he seems to have enjoyed his birthday.

Sure, Hooters might not be what the parenting blogs recommend, but does anyone actually know how to be a perfect parent anyway?