One of the Finest internet memes of 2015 was TodderTantrumGate: a photo of a two year old child throwing a strop in front of the US president.
Well the child’s mother
Laura Moser has written a piece for
Slate about the picture.
It all started with a fitted sheet. Moser writes:
“She’s usually easygoing by toddler standards, except in the mornings when she demands to strip off all her clothes and don nothing but a fitted dinosaur sheet. (“It’s not a sheet!” she screams. “It’s a sheet-dress! I wear my sheet-dress!”)”
Moser explains that her family was at the White House to celebrate the annual Passover Seder, hosted by the Obama’s. The tantrum was spurred by the toddler’s irritation at having to wear actual clothes and not her aforementioned beloved sheet-dress. Moser continues:
“
“I take off my shoes,” she told me.
“No, sweetie, not right now.”
“I take off my dress,” she suggested next.
“Claudia, if you could just wait one second—”
“I wear a sheet-dress.”
“I’m so sorry, sweet girl, but we didn’t bring any sheets tonight!”
My lack of preparation outraged her.
In her fury, she threw herself at the feet of the most famous man in the world. That same instant, Pete Souza, the chief official White House photographer, walked into the room.”
Moser explains that her husband was one of Obama’s original campaigners and that each year they are invited to return to the Seder. When the photographer shared the picture with Moser “for personal use” she shared it on her Facebook thinking it was a funny moment to share with family and friends. Her brother tweeted the picture and within hours it had gone super viral. The picture appeared all over the world with
Good Morning America and
Sky News featuring the child on their news shows.
And while Internet commenters complained that the picture demonstrated the lack of parenting skills, Moser and Obama both acknowledge the moment as nothing more than just a child’s prerogative.
Speaking about the unintentional Internet fame, Moser concludes;
“If the Internet has taught us anything, it’s that crazy people have a great deal of free time on their hands”.
