Awe at What Mom Teaches 9-Year-Old Daughter: 'Built Different'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
When a mom from Tennessee woke up one morning last week, the last thing she expected was having to give her nine-year-old driving lessons.
Taylor Clark shared a clip on TikTok (@taylorctn423) showing their collapsed garage door on top of the family truck.
As a single mom from the South with no neighbors answering their phones and her usual go-to already gone for the day, Clark had no backup—except her own daughter, Sophie.
Split view of single mother instructing daughter how to reverse family truck and holding up garage door.
Split view of single mother instructing daughter how to reverse family truck and holding up garage door.
@taylorctn423
"All I could think was, 'Well, time to teach Sophie how to back the truck out'," the 31-year-old told Newsweek. "I had every ounce of confidence that she could do it and she did. We're Southerners so kids driving four-wheelers, golf carts [and] farm trucks is the norm here."
Viewers can't hear Clark's calm instructions as she used AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" for the clip's audio, but she recalled exactly what she told her daughter.
"I told her, 'Your left foot is useless, leave it to the side. Put your right foot on the brake and ease your foot off when I tell you to.'
"Once I got the garage lifted off my truck I said, 'OK, now gently ease your foot off the brake. Easy. Now brake!'"
Clark then lifts the garage door off the truck, and Sophie reverses the vehicle like someone who had been driving for years.
Confident the garage wasn't going to fall completely, Clark went over to park the truck for her daughter, but Sophie had already done it.
"She hopped out very proud of herself and we laughed 'cause we can't believe we just had to do that," Clark said.
The mom explained in her caption how things could have been worse if her truck didn't have rails on top. "My days are never boring," she added.
Over seven million users viewed the clip and Clark's cool-headed approach left viewers in awe.
"Teach your girls to be strong this way they don't need a man!" one user wrote.
"The definition of built different," the profile for Duracell batteries commented.
"With a sundress and tiptoes?! You win the day," another added.
Clark told Newsweek that internet users have been supportive of Sophie who handled the situation "like a champ."
"They were mainly wanting to know who was recording the video, and it was my six-year-old daughter Charlotte," Clark said. "I handed Charlotte the phone and said, 'Record this or no one will believe us'."
After the driving lesson was over, Clark called her dad—who lives six hours away—to help her get the garage door fixed.
"Best dad in the world," she said.
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