A toddler is winning hearts on the internet for his adorable work ethic, helping his mom carry and wash empty water jugs for the family business.
Registered nurse Tamara Pethick, 43, and her husband, investor Kurt Pethick, 47, are raising six kids together in the town of Cornell in Ontario, Canada. Thomas, nearly 2, is their youngest.
While Mrs. Pethick was on maternity leave, she began taking Thomas along when she visited the family business, Cariboo Water.
“I’ve never had daycare, and, as a nurse, I’ve always worked night shift,” Mrs. Pethick told The Epoch Times. “I never expected, when I took him to work, that he would actually start working!”
Cariboo Water had lost its manager, said the mom of six, so in September 2022 she began visiting the business every day. Before long, she noticed her toddler was engrossed in their daily tasks and wanted to help out. He began by carrying returned, empty water jugs into the building.
“It was pretty cute,” said his mom. "We never trained him to do it or anything. He just watched us, day in, day out ... so he just got used to seeing it.
“We deliver to residences and businesses all throughout town, and the trucks are in and out all day long, so it became part of his little routine. He wouldn’t even take one [jug], he made a point that he had to take two!”
“We kind of made a joke that he got promoted,” she said. “We sanitize them, and we bleach them all out. He likes to stand up there, and he likes to spin the jugs and water around on the inside.
“Now that he’s a little bit bigger, he likes to help hold on to the big bowl jugs. He'll help take them out to people’s vehicles. He just wants to be part of the scene.”
Today, Cariboo Water’s littlest helper knows the sound of the delivery trucks and will wait by the door for the next batch of empty jugs when he hears the big vehicles reversing.
“Being a business owner, it’s hard to find good work, so people comment on that a lot,” said Mrs. Pethick. “I also have teenagers, so I know it’s not easy to get kids motivated. Lots of people comment on that.”
Thomas, an “active, fun little guy” also loves animals, bikes, and the outdoors. But with his adorable impulse to help at the family business, he has proven the efficacy of his mom’s parenting philosophy: lead by example.
“Parenting’s so difficult nowadays,” Mrs. Pethick said. “My advice would be ... show them how to be that person, they will follow what you do!”
