What happens after your kid unexpectedly goes viral?

Weisberg shared the video on her Instagram stories in 2018, and every year thereafter to the delight of her friends and family. But last year, as Abe prepared to enter the fourth grade, she posted the video on TikTok with the hashtag #backtoschool and the mysterious algorithm of social media’s most addictive site ensured the video was seen by more people than friends and family — a lot more. The less-than-10-second video garnered more than 15 million views, making Abe — who was instantly dubbed “Terrible Sandwich Kid” — and Weisberg “internet famous” overnight.

The mother-son duo were suddenly sent down the surreal, exhilarating and sometimes alarming path of viral fame that included national news coverage, multiple daytime talk show segments, celebrity shout-outs (starting with Jennifer Garner) and an array of interesting offers. For instance, Abe landed a content creator deal with Panera Bread, and a graphic design agency donated its services to help him start a funny merchandise line, featuring clothing with a cartoon of Abe’s face and his catchphrase (“terrible sandwich by the way …”). Weisberg says 50 percent of all the proceeds from the merchandise line are donated to the nonprofit Feeding America, a charity chosen by Abe.

Going viral was exciting, sure, but it was also eye-opening and at times exhausting. “I couldn’t believe how intense the process was,” said Weisberg. “Your phone is constantly buzzing, and you can’t help but feel this pressure to take advantage of the moment and drop everything from your life.” In the immediate aftermath of the TikTok, Abe was doing multiple interviews a day with local and national outlets. Weisberg could see the intensity of the schedule sometimes took a toll on her son, and she tried to batch many of Abe’s interview together so that he didn’t have to sit through the rigors of doing press multiple days in a row. “Interview fatigue is a real thing,” she said.

Ever since baby Charlie bit his unsuspecting brother’s finger, kids have been going viral for those raw slice-of-life moments that were captured, described, shared and inexplicably blew up out of nowhere. While there’s been a recent push to keep parents — particularly influencer parents — from oversharing and exploiting their children’s privacy online, these are generally the extreme cases. Most parents who post videos on social media aren’t desperately seeking internet fame for their children or themselves. So when it does happen, they are often unprepared.

Take Aaron Gouveia. One afternoon, his then-5-year-old-son Sam came home from kindergarten tearful and confused because his classmates taunted him over the bright red nail polish he sported. Gouveia was angry and looking to vent on social media so — with Sam’s permission — he posted a Twitter (Now “X”) thread that condemned toxic masculinity and included a photo of himself with painted nails in support of his son.

“The post was very much out of anger,” said Gouveia. “After we [Gouveia and his wife, MJ] talked to Sam, calmed him down and put him to bed, I just let loose on a Twitter rant. I would have gone back and changed some things, but that one was very raw.” The anger resonated, and the first post in the thread went viral instantly, with large swaths of the internet — including celebrities like NFL-star-turned-children’s-book-author Martellus Bennett and Tara Strong — expressing their support for Sam. Before morning national media outlets like People Magazine were already looking to speak to Gouveia and Sam. The support gave Sam a tremendous confidence boost and turned a negative experience into one of the most exciting events of his young life.

But there was another side to the attention. “When you’ve got a little boy wearing nail polish, there’s always going to be some trolls in the comments. But this went far beyond trolls,” said Gouveia. How far? A website promoting neo-Nazi propaganda went so far as to put an article filled with vile, hate-filled descriptions of Gouveia and Sam on its front page. “That was the worst. It remains the only time my wife wanted to shut everything down and never talk to anybody again,” said Gouveia.

Ultimately, Gouveia said the family decided to make the most of Sam’s moment of online fame — and the now-9-year-old has since gone viral on multiple occasions for videos about his passion for sewing. Meanwhile, his parents have learned a lot about protecting their son and his well-being in the process. Gouveia advises parents who find themselves in a similar situation to remember that they’re in the driver’s seat. “When you’re in demand and media outlets are reaching out, it can be overwhelming, but you need to remember that you’re ultimately in control,” said Gouveia.

One area in which that control is critical: The rights to the content itself. “People are going to want to use your video, and you need to be hypervigilant not to give away any of the rights,” said Gouveia. Weisberg, too, viewed protecting the rights to her child’s content as a key part of protecting her child. “I had never experienced a viral video moment before, and I didn’t know there would be companies essentially trying to steal this asset and own it, casually saying, ‘Sign this form real quick’ about a contract stating the company would own the content ‘in perpetuity,’ ” she said.

LaQuista Erinna’s son Jackson experienced internet fame after Erinna posted a short TikTok of a haircut game her son and his barber played on a day when cutting the then-6-year-old’s hair seemed like an insurmountable challenge. Jackson, who has autism, was particularly anxious about haircuts — so much so that Erinna had given up on cutting Jackson’s hair for two years. Eventually, she found a barber who knew exactly how to keep Jackson calm and ensure the job got done — even on a particularly trying day when Erinna had all but given up on the idea of a haircut and his barber needed to literally run around the store with the clippers. The touching clip resonated with people and, in addition to millions of views, widespread media coverage and appearances on national television programs like “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Jackson’s internet fame helped him find a steady group of friends. “It boosted his confidence,” said Erinna. “I don’t know if he would have friends like he has now if it wasn’t for the video.”

Erinna, however, was so focused on Jackson’s well-being in the weeks after the video went viral that she didn’t fully account for how the internet fame may have impacted her other children. “My oldest son hates the internet, and I didn’t think he’d care much about all the attention his little brother was receiving, so I was bit caught off-guard when my ex-husband said, ‘You know he’s a bit jealous, right?’ ” Jealousy is a natural reaction from even the most laid-back children when their sibling is receiving such an outs

amount of attention from the outside world and, in many cases their parents. “Make it a point to consistently check in on them,” advised Erinna.

Parenting a child who goes viral also often requires giving the occasional reality-check. Gouveia recalled an incident right after Sam’s “Good Morning America” appearance where his son appeared confused and worried while the two were on a train. “I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘I don’t get it. No one seems to recognize me. I’m famous so why don’t people recognize me?’” Gouveia saw an opportunity to give Sam a proper talk about the fleeting nature of internet fame. “I told him that people on the internet are famous for like three seconds and then they’re not anymore. It doesn’t make you better or smarter than anyone else — you’re just another kid, and that’s okay,” he said.