A New York woman’s candid post about parenting is going viral.
Model and mom Arielle Jackson posted a video on TikTok on Jan. 22 about struggling to accept love and affection from your children and partner when you grew up in a non-affectionate household.
In the short video, Jackson is seen looking into the camera. The text over the video reads: “Nobody talks about how difficult it is to grow up in a non affectionate household then end up with the most affectionate kids and or partner and having to learn how to accept the love and clingyness [sic] from them without getting overstimulated.”
“Open discussion, share your experiences,” Jackson, 35, captioned her post.
The post, which has received 7.9 million views as of Feb. 7, has generated thousands of responses from social media users, many of whom noted that they share a similar experience in their own lives.
“THIS,” wrote one commenter, adding, “I find it easier with the kids, but still struggle w/ my partner sometimes. I love him so much, but affection still feels so unusual to me.”
“Omg! My son is all over me – I get so overstimulated,” another person wrote.
“It’s worse when you have to fake affection to your kids so they won’t be traumatized like you in the future 😢,” yet another person chimed in.
Jackson tells PEOPLE that she “had no idea” her video would receive such a massive response.
“It was surprising but also enlightening because I didn’t know so many people could relate,” she says, adding that she grew up in a household where hugging and saying “I love you” was rare.
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Jackson went on to note that she is currently trying her best to break “generational curses” as she doesn’t want her children or fiancé to feel unloved.
“I’m learning how to reciprocate,” she says.
Jackson also shared that — after the success of her initial video on the topic — she would next like to provide pointers on how to deal with these kinds of feelings “now that I see so many people can relate.”
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