Kid belts out every word of a song from the new 'Matilda' and Dad's response is hilarious
'Don't tell me you can't memorize your math tables no more.'
11-year-old Nathan belts out "Naughty" from "Matilda."
As a parent, you want your kid to find their space in the world, discover what they're passionate about and build the skills needed to be successful in whatever path they choose.
You also want them to do their dang homework. Even the stuff they aren't particularly thrilled about.
Balancing those things isn't always easy, especially when you have a kid who has very specific interests and very specific non-interests. And that familiar struggle is hilariously depicted in a delightful, viral family car ride.
In the video shared by Samantha Broxton on her TikTok channel, 11-year-old Kevin sits in the back seat singing his heart out to the song "Naughty" from the new Netflix version of "Matilda." The film was just released in December, which makes it all the more impressive that Nathan knows the whole thing by heart.
The "by heart" part is what prompted Nathan's dad, Kevin, to pause the song part-way through and interject with the most classic dad comment ever.
"Don't tell me you can't memorize your math facts no more," he said. "OK? I don't hear that. Multiplication, division, all that. Don't tell me you can't do it."
Kevin is a musician himself and a fan of musical theater and you can see him enjoying Nathan's singalong, but he's also a dad wanting his kids to get the most out of their education. He may have a point about where his son puts his memorization energy, but that didn't deter Nathan from waiting patiently for Dad to turn the song back on so he could continue his performance.
@raisingself Let’s just call this Nathan’s audition for Matilda the Musical!
In Nathan's defense, it iseasier to memorize things when they're put to music, which is why Schoolhouse Rock! exists. Perhaps Nathan should find a program that puts math facts to music, though that's still not quite as much fun as singing along to "Matilda."
Samantha tells Upworthy that Nathan has been into musicals since "Hamilton" came out, which makes what happened after this video went viral all the more exciting for the Broxtons.
As the "Matilda" video started circulating on Twitter, another video of Nathan singing in the car started making the rounds along with it. In this one, he is singing "Wait for It" from "Hamilton."
\u201cLOOK at baby @leslieodomjr. \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\u201d— April (@April) 1673367002
His passion is so clear that it even caught the attention of Leslie Odom Jr., who originally performed the song in the role of Aaron Burr on Broadway. Odom shared the video with a message of praise for Nathan.
"Young brother is far more committed than I even dreamt of being at his age," he wrote. "This is conviction! And I love to see it. On this trajectory, he'll eclipse me in no time."
\u201cYoung brother is far more committed than I even dreamt of being at his age. This is conviction! And I love to see it. On this trajectory, he\u2019ll eclipse me in no time. Ha \ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffe\u201d— Leslie Odom, Jr. (@Leslie Odom, Jr.) 1673372069
The family was blown away by the tweet.
"I’m so touched by Leslie acknowledging our Nathan," Samantha says. "We think Nathan is talented and could really be amazing in the theater world, but we are obviously very biased as his parents and family. Hearing from someone like Leslie Odom, Jr., with his body of work and broad range and depth of talent, it was really like an overwhelming external confirmation that something similar might really start to be possible for Nathan in the near future."
Nathan's reaction to seeing Leslie Odom Jr.'s tweet, shared by Samantha with his permission, is so pure.
@raisingself Shared with permission from Nathan. He is so thankful for everyone’s kind words and encouragement. This year he want to get voice lessons and dance lessons and get even more serious about Musical Theater.
Samantha says she and her family have been sharing stories from everyday life on social media for a few years. "It truly is a labor of love, rooted in the desire to build community and share what we have and are actively learning about family, love, healing and adulting," she says, adding that their content is mostly unscripted and that their children have a say in what they post and how the videos are edited. "This is super important to us," she says. "We make the decision to continue to make content as a family, and we wrestle with it every year."
With the positive feedback Nathan is receiving from the musical theater community and people in general, it appears it was definitely a good choice this year.
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