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Mom shares back-to-school emotions, from kindergarten tears to 'Freedom!'

This dramatic reenactment of moms on the first day of school for kindergarten versus every other year will have you singing "Freedom" too.
/ Source: TODAY Contributor

Moms on the first day of kindergarten: "He's not ready! He's only 5! His teacher doesn't know he needs 14 kisses every 45 seconds!"

Moms on the first day of school every other year: "Freedom!"

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Brownsville, Tennessee, blogger and author Susannah B. Lewis highlights the change in moms' emotions over the first day of school in a viral video that now has 5.6 million views on her own Facebook page and over 21 million on the Facebook page Viral Threads.

Lewis, who is mom to Natalie Ann, 10, and Bennett, 6, told TODAY Parents she made the video to empathize with her friends who are sending kids to school for the first time. "This was SO me last year when my baby boy was going to kindergarten, and all of my friends with kids going to kindergarten now are losing their minds, bless their hearts!"

In the video, Lewis tearfully wonders how her baby could possibly make it through a school day. "He's only 5!...I don't know if he can carry his lunch tray. I don't know if he knows where the bathroom is."

She also bemoans the daily rituals with a little one at home that moms find themselves unexpectedly missing once they leave for full-time school: "I want to watch Ninja turtles," she cries, "And I never want to watch Ninja Turtles!"

kindergarten moms
Susannah B. Lewis with husband Jason and children Natalie Ann and Bennett.Susannah B. Lewis / facebook

Then the video switches to her portrayal of moms on the first day of school with older kids... rocking out to George Michael's "Freedom." She acknowledges that the celebration stage of school drop-off "wears off" after the first few weeks when the kids' homework starts rolling in. "Then I start missing summer break and sleeping late," she said.

She didn't expect the video to go viral, but Lewis understands why it did. "I guess all moms are pretty crazy when they send their babies to school," she said.