‘Literally Janine and Barbara’: ‘Take your daughter to work day’ takes on a whole new meaning when ‘Abbott Elementary’ becomes reality

A mom and child duo have gone viral on TikTok, after sharing a snippet of their experience teaching at the same school in what feels like something pulled straight from Abbott Elementary. 

Shared by TikTok user Raya Smith (@rayasmith03), the brief video shows the school teacher packing up her supplies for the day before heading just a short distance across the schoolyard to meet her mother, a fellow teacher. The duo, who are both sporting the school staff lanyards, then proceed to host a makeshift dance party in the mom’s classroom, enjoy an after-school snack, and likely lament whatever antics their students got up to that day.

“When you and your mom teach at the same school,” Raya wrote in the in-video text, elaborating in the caption that she “swears [mom] actually loves having me around.” It’s a variation of Bring your Daughter to Work Day that hits us squarely in the wholesome feels, and it’s all topped off by the use of Ariana Grande’s song “Sweetener” as the soundtrack to the pair’s classroom dance session. The clip almost immediately drew comparisons to Abbott Elementary, since the character of Janine (played by series creator Quinta Brunson) views Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) as something of a surrogate mother figure. 

“Literally Janine and Barbara,” one viewer commented in reference to the beloved sitcom, with another adding that “this could be an Abbott Elementary episode.” Others used the video — which has amassed over two million likes and ten million views — to share their own experiences of working with their mothers, in fields including daycare, nursing, and hospitality. Elsewhere, some viewers sympathized with the mother, who now seemingly gets no time away from her child (which might explain her eye roll in the video), saying the shared workplace “takes bugging your mom while she’s at work to a whole new level.”

“My mom won’t let me work with her cause she said she doesn’t want to have to curse no one out,” another user quipped. The general consensus is one of joy, however, with many saying the video and the clear love the pair have for each other “almost made me cry.” The mother was so popular, in fact, that Raya shared another video with her also situated in a school classroom that sees the duo busting out more moves in celebration of their shared upcoming school break. 

“It’s Friday and we’re headed on Thanksgiving break,” Raya wrote alongside a clip of the mother-daughter duo recreating a popular TikTok dance. It’s certainly one of the more wholesome school-based viral TikToks we’ve seen in recent months, with the algorithm delivering us a teacher giving archaic gender role lessons, a class hamster making a desperate escape, and a group of teachers enraged by the introduction of Bible studies into classrooms. Oh, there was also that student who brought an emotional support hedgehog to class.   

On the parent/child duo front, the For You Page has been populated by a son making unexpected use of his mother’s Thanksgiving Day leftovers, a little girl schooling her dad on how to be the man of the house, and a toddler who had a surprisingly adult response when questioned by her mom. We sincerely hope Raya and her mom got some much-needed rest over their Thanksgiving school break, and at least found some alone time before returning to their shared workplace.