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By Rachael O'Connor
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A young mom was torn about how to react when her four-year-old daughter drew all over her bedroom wall—but years later, is glad she took the route she did.
Amelia Edwards, 31 and from the West Midlands in the United Kingdom, is mom to a seven-year-old daughter who, like many kids, loves art and drawing.
Unlike many other kids, though, Edwards' daughter's artwork has been immortalized on her bedroom wall—and the mother and daughter have gone viral in the process.
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"I actually remember the moment so clearly," Edwards told Newsweek. "I was on the landing when she burst out of her bedroom shouting, 'Mommy, mommy, come and see what I’ve done!'
"She grabbed my hand with so much excitement and dragged me into her room. My mom was there too, so she followed us in. When I first saw the drawings, I was completely speechless."
Edwards realized that her then-four-year-old daughter had drawn all over her bedroom wall, right beside her bed: over a dozen figures, from clouds and a smiley-faced sun, to animals and people, ice cream and unicorns.
Most parents' first thoughts might be about the effort and cost of covering up the drawings, but as Edwards was still processing what was happening, her own mother laughed and pointed out: "These are actually really great."
And this, Edwards said, "supported my reaction in that moment."
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"When I finally spoke, I told her how lovely they were and let her have her moment. She went through every single drawing, explaining each one—how the unicorn was her teddy, how she loves spiders so that’s why she drew one, and so on. It was obvious she’d really thought about it and had been genuinely creative," she said.
And while Edwards also took the opportunity to explain to her daughter that "we must only draw on paper, not on walls"—they decided to keep the flourish of creativity that they could look back on for years to come.
"Rather than telling her off, we decided to decorate her room around her masterpiece, and it’s sparked a really lovely conversation about creativity, parenting, and allowing children to explore without fear when they don’t yet know better," she said. "The moment she ran to get me, bursting with excitement to show me what she’d done, is something I’ll never forget."
Edwards showed the before-and-after in a post to her TikTok account, @ameliajayneedwards on January 9, first showing her toddler beaming with pride in bed, showing off her dozen or so creations behind her.
She then revealed what they had done to keep the artwork: adding pink and cream wallpaper to the room, on every wall—except for one patch, framed in pink, which showed her artwork in all its glory.
Edwards' video prompted a major response, and has been viewed close to 2 million times—as some in the comments discussed parenting styles.
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"It's good not to tell her off because it's so cute but she needs to understand drawing on walls is wrong," one user wrote, as one shared: "I had full permission to draw anything in my walls so every time someone comes over, they add a drawing of their own, and now my wall holds so many memories."
"I was massively shouted at when I did this as a child, so when my daughter did the same I very nearly acted angrily, but I'm so glad I didn't," another said, as one recalled: "My mom let me do this & it’s one of my favorite childhood memories. I decorated the entire wall with my drawings & they are still there under wallpaper."
One unimpressed commenter wrote: "Hopefully you told her she can't do this everywhere...right?" and another asked: "If she did it in the sitting room would you have gramed it?" To which Edwards replied with a laughing emoji: "Absolutely not!"
Edwards told Newsweek that, in the years since, her daughter has never again drawn on the walls, though has "added to her original piece over the years," and is still "bright and very creative."
"Of course, some people disagreed with how I handled it—and that’s okay. Everyone parents differently, and if we all thought the same, the world would be a pretty boring place. For me, it was about choosing connection over correction in that moment," she said.
She decided to post the video after finding the photos in her phone one night, and "never expected it to go viral"—but it has given another opportunity for the mother and daughter to bond.
"My daughter and I sat together reading through most of the comments, and we were both overwhelmed by how kind people were. Instead of judgment, TikTok turned out to be such a lovely place—full of praise, humor and warmth," she said.
"It gave me a real confidence boost as a parent, and I’m so glad I handled it the way I did rather than shouting and making her feel awful about something she was so proud of just moments before."
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