'It makes you happy:' TikTok video of B.C. toddler helping out at family business goes viral

A still taken from a viral TikTok video shows a B.C. toddler helping his family out. (TikTok: tamaraannemunro)

A TikTok video of a pint-sized B.C. toddler pitching in at his family's business has gone viral, amassing over 34 million views in less than a week.

His mom, Tamara Pelletier, says her son Thomas has been watching her and the staff at Cariboo Water in Quesnel work since he was 11 months old, when she returned from maternity leave.

More recently, he's started to help with returns of reusable water bottles.

"He's just been watching us load and unload the van for all that time, and he just started taking a liking to helping out with it," Pelletier told CTV News.

Set to the high-energy 90s hit "I Like To Move It," the video shows the 16-month-old enthusiastically toddling over to the back of a truck, removing an empty 18-litre water bottle that's nearly as tall as he is. He runs back inside before hoisting it onto a shelf, lining it up with others.

The boy then returns to the truck, picks up one bottle in each hand, staggers just a little bit, and heads back to the shelf. He needs a little bit of help with one of the two bottles and gets an assist from his mom, who lifts him up so he can put it in place.

"The attention that it's getting seems so crazy to me," she said.

"Everyone I've talked to said the same thing, just the same thing over and over. It's just a nice, feel-good video to watch, and it makes you happy."

Tens of thousands of people have commented, noting the tot's apparent work ethic, helpfulness and intelligence. Jokes about how hard it is to find good help these days abound.

Pelletier says she's also seen reaction videos from all over the world, with people singing along.

"That's what I love about it, just watching all these people all over, just seeing how happy he makes them. He makes me so happy so it's like 'I get it,'" she said, adding that Thomas loves to dance, so setting the video to a retro dance track seemed like a fitting choice.

Thomas is the youngest of Pelletier and her fiancée's kids, and she says the older ones think it's "awesome" that their little brother has gone viral. One of the kids' teachers even played the video for the entire eighth-grade class.

"We're a little bit overwhelmed but it's fun at the same time, and positive," said Pelletier.

While Thomas has no idea he's become an internet sensation, his mom says she plans on telling him when he's old enough to understand.