Dad Mics Up Son, 4, During Hockey Practice to Find Out What He's Thinking — and It's Adorable!
He may be on the ice, but this 4-year-old boy is sure to melt your heart.
As 2019 approached, hockey coach Jeremy Rupke was excited to teach his son Mason the sport he’s been playing from the time he was young. But once Mason got out on the ice, Rupke wondered exactly what his toddler was thinking as he did everything but the drills he was supposed to.
Taking matters into his own hands, Rupke decided to put a microphone on Mason during one of his hockey practices and catch a glimpse inside his son’s thoughts about the game, his friends, and even his desire to take a nap.
The adorable results played out in a viral YouTube video, which garnered over 100,000 views within the first 24 hours of it going live, and another 1 million views on Twitter. As of Monday, the clip on YouTube had surpassed more than 3 million views.
“When I shot this video, I thought it would be a cute video, hockey players would love it, hockey parents would smile… I didn’t expect this!” Rupke wrote on his instructional hockey website on Monday.
“I definitely never had that happen before,” Rupke, who’s been creating hockey content since 2010, told PEOPLE. “I haven’t had this type of reaction from a video I’ve created before and it was amazing and to see how people can relate to it… it’s all just awesome.”
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The adorable video begins ahead of the practice as Rupke mics up his little boy on camera. “Shoving that in my pocket?” Mason sweetly asked. “Why?”
Before taking the ice, the 4-year-old, wearing his royal blue jersey, practices his shooting with a piece of crumpled trash and proudly owns his skills.
“Am I a good score-der?” he asked before taking a slap shot — or “flap shot” as Mason called it. “HYOOoo yeah, I am!”
After a sufficient warm-up, Mason is assisted out onto the ice. But because he’s been working on skating with both feet, instead of just one, Mason carefully counts to himself while he skates to the center of the rink.
“One, two… One, two,” he said to himself, giggling between steps. “I’m doing it! I did it! I did it!”
From there, Mason skates around before doing some adorable belly flops, wiggles, and crawls on the ice and doesn’t even get down on himself when he falls multiple times. “I’m okay, it’s okay!” he said, lying face down on the ice.
At one point after falling, Mason hilariously decided that it was time for a break. “I’m gonna have a nap,” he said as he rolled over to his back and sprawled out in the middle of the rink.
As the video continues, Mason enjoyed some quality skating time and game drills alongside his pals, laughing and soaking up some time with one particular friend, Hayden. But like many of us, he eventually got so exhausted from the practice and sets his mind on something else.
“I wanna go to BaDonald’s. Are we gonna go to BaDonald’s after?” Mason asked Rupke, who was recording this from the stands. “15 more minutes and then be done and get a Baby Happy Meal,” the 4-year-old says to himself.
With one minute of practice left, Mason hilariously tells his hockey instructor that his legs are tired and then proceeds to share his exciting news. “I’m gonna go to McDonald’s after with my dad!” he exclaimed.
Rupke said his son is aware of Internet fame now that the video has gone viral, but is more focused on being a typical 4-year-old kid.
“I asked him, ‘Mason, did you know you went viral?’ [He responded] ‘Mhm.’ And I said, ‘Do you know what that means?’ [He said,] Nope,” Rupke told PEOPLE.
“[I said], ‘You had a million views on Twitter, you know what Twitter is?'” Rupke added with a laugh. “[He said,] ‘Nope’ and he’s basically like, ‘Can we just play with toys now?'”
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In addition to Mason, Rupke also shares a 2-year-old daughter Olivia with his wife Sammy.
Rupke said he believes Olivia may also have a future in hockey because unlike Mason — who was initially scared on the ice and is a bit more reserved than his little sister — Olivia is fearless and not afraid to roughhouse.
“Olivia loves to be rough and tumble and wants me to swing her and throw her, she’s like a bull,” he said. “I think the first time we took her on the ice, she had no fear at all and was kicking her feet and trying to go. She’ll probably be into [hockey] for sure.”
Of being able to pass along his love for the game to his son, Rupke said he looks forward to watching Mason grow and supporting him through every moment.
“It’s pretty amazing, I think there’s a lot more memories to be had. Right now… he just wants to play and have fun,” he said. “[I want him to be] challenged and to encourage him that he can do it and get him to believe in himself.”
“And when he’s a little bit scared to take that first step, I’ll be there to support him and help him along the way,” Rupke added.
