Yahoo Lifestyle Kindergartener Reveals One Rule to Having a Boyfriend After She Sees Classmates Kissing on School Bus (Exclusive)
Harper's mom, Stephanie, tells PEOPLE her little girl has always been a storyteller
Harper Rae/Instagram
Harper Rae6-year-old Harper believes her classmates shouldn't be dating, saying "If you can't spell boyfriend, you shouldn't have one."
Harper's mom, Stephanie, has been sharing videos of her young daughter online for the last four years.
Stephanie has conversations with Harper about the videos they make, ensuring her daughter is comfortable with the content before posting.
A mom is sharing her daughter's hilarious take on the kindergarten dating scene.
Stephanie's 6-year-old daughter Harper has gone viral for her rant about boys and girls kissing on the school bus. The little kid gossip session tickled many of the users who watched.
"Her boyfriend kisses her on the lips... on the bus!" she begins in a whisper.
Harper then continues, "The only time you can kiss somebody is when you actually love them and they're a part of your family."
"Like when you get in love with somebody, when you're actually in love with somebody, you can kiss," she proclaims. When mom asks at what age that might happen, Harper responds, "Like when you're in the teens."
"I mean, you can get a boyfriend but when you're older, like 15 or older than that. When you actually like somebody and they like you, for real. When you get to the point where you have a crush on them, for real."
The kindergartener concludes, "If you can't spell boyfriend, you shouldn't have one, right?"
Stephanie tells PEOPLE that Harper's had a big personality "ever since she could speak."
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"She was putting sentences together at 20 months old. I really noticed it when we were home together during the pandemic. We got a little bit more time together than usual and it ended up being such a good time and a great age for her vocabulary," the proud mom shares.
"That's when it really started to explode. Ever since she could put words together, her favorite thing to do was [tell stories] and use her imagination."
The kindergartner's videos are popular, with her dating rant getting more than 8 million views. Stephanie says she's seen a very expressive side of Harper as she navigates life as a 6-year-old.
"Kindergarten is obviously like a pivotal stage, mixing with lots of different people. She was starting to see for the first time that her peers were referring to crushes as a boyfriend and girlfriend. She has always been like such an old soul and it's beyond her," Stephanie says.
"Basically, while she resonates with having crushes, she was like boyfriend and girlfriend? She was thrown off by that. She just wants to get back to more important things at recess, like building their little fairy houses and practicing cartwheels and not having boyfriends."
Social media started as something to keep friends and family up-to-date on what's new with Harper, but with the encouragement of others, Stephanie began to see how it could become something more.
"I created her account when she was 2, mostly because I didn't want to spam my own [feed] with videos of my kids. I realized that people were starting to say that they were sharing her videos, and that people found her entertaining enough to share things that she would say with other random people," she says.
"A couple of people encouraged me to create an account where I could share her videos. I did for the sake of keeping them all in one place and had no idea so many people would follow along. It was primarily for friends and family and then it just exploded."
"It's definitely been a mix but ultimately, it's just been a really fun experience because we've connected with so many people, all over the world," Stephanie continues. "I remember one woman sent us the sweetest voice memo with her Irish accent a few years ago. That's been the really fun part — it's giving me some faith in humanity again because, for every negative person on the internet, there are 300 good, positive ones."
It's been particularly special when people reach out and share how Harper brings some light to dark times for them.
"My favorite part of it has been getting the messages from people who are struggling with depression or who are chronically ill or who have just lost somebody, basically just at a low point in life, and they find happiness in and enjoy Harper," she says. "They look forward to her videos and finding a reason to smile."
Harper also does quite a bit of smiling and laughing as she shares bits from her day or when she pretends to be her recent favorite character: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's imaginary daughter.
Harper doesn't quite understand her impact just yet, but she's realizing more about it each day.
"She's very wise beyond her years. She obviously is only going to understand to a certain extent, but she does know we get recognized in a lot of places. I don't think we've gone anywhere in the past year or two without somebody coming up and saying something to her. It's been very kind and friendly, but she's definitely understanding that people recognize her from her Instagram," Stephanie says.
Stephanie also makes sure Harper knows she has a say in her online presence. "I've had conversations with her about how anytime she wants to stop, we stop. This can be gone anytime she wants. We do it as safely as we possibly can. Right now, she loves making the videos and she loves making people smile."
When she's not making videos, Harper is busy with the business of being a kid.
"Harper's a very fulfilled child. She has great, great friends. She loves school and learning, and she learned to read this past year. Art and drawing and piano are things she loves, too," Stephanie says. "She's also currently doing cheerleading, gymnastics lacrosse and dance. She loves her family and she's an incredible big sister. I would say that's like her best role as [a] big sister."
"Harper's a great kid," the proud mom shares. "She makes my job easy and enjoyable. She's the best and we're very blessed."
