Children play happily on a playground.
Kids say the darndest things and, sometimes, the "darndest things" are actual, bona fide wisdom beyond their years. When Julian Shapiro-Barnum (JSB), who hosts the popular web series Recess Therapy, seeks out these young kids for advice, he's probably always a little shocked, but never disappointed.
Based in New York City, JSB interviews kids between the ages of two and nine years old. The series resonated so sweetly with fans that The New York Times had to interview JSB, who shares, “The reason it’s called Recess Therapy is that the original idea was that I was going to bring things that I was struggling with to children and, like, get advice from them.” Per the official Recess Therapy social media pages, it's "a playground full of untrained therapists. Little kids, big questions, free advice."
One delightful year-old clip is gaining in popularity as it remakes the rounds on social media. In it, JSB asks a young girl named Zoey, "Do you know what Miles said about you recently?" Zoey beams. "He wants to marry me."
We then cut to Miles to confirm this information. He explains, "And then I wanted to marry a NEW friend that had never been to my school named Zoey."
Back to Zoey, JSB asks, "Are you ready for that?" Zoey giggles, "I THINK." The reaction is utter shock while Zoey continues, "What's a girl to do?" She then takes a huge slurp out of her large, pink sippy cup-style water bottle.
But this takes a turn, reminiscent of cinema's best rom-coms. "There's like two people I really like," she says with a smile. JSB responds, "Oh my God, sister, what are we gonna do about it?" Zoey answers without hesitation. "Love is so confusing. It's just hard to know."
A heart-shaped pink chalk drawing. Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
What happens next is completely unexpected. JSB asks Zoey matter-of-factly, "Should we go write a love song?" "Oooh yeah!" Zoey exclaims. Cut to: They're sitting in front of a piano when JSB asks Zoey, "Okay, what's this song about?" She answers, "A flower in love with peanut butter." Move over, Taylor Swift. We've got a new romantic in town.
They both begin to play as Zoey sings, "The flower was thinking of the peanut butter. Oooh ooooh ooooh peanut butter. The peanut butter was sooooo lonely. She had somebody she liked, but didn't know which one to choose."
JSB busts in, "Peanut butter and the jelly. But which is right for me?"
Giving the microphone back to Zoey, she shocks with her final lyrics: "But the flower didn't need anybody at all. She was perfect the way she was." He and the rest of the room erupt in applause, because…it's utter genius.
But for those worried about Miles, he gets a big win too.
Recess Therapy, Rhianna , fans, kids www.youtube.com, Recess Therapy
The comment sections agree. On the Instagram reel, there are nearly half a million likes and loads of commenters. Some are merely surprised by how good it is: "Not the song slapping me left and right."
Others really relate to the lyrics: "Who hasn’t been a flower that took too long to realize they were better off without a non-committing peanut butter?"
And one person has this advice for Zoey: "Yes flower. Just keep blooming."
The YouTube comments also continue to come in every day. One person writes, "You're not allowed to be this cool at this age. It's just not fair."
The truth is, Zoey (and all the rest of the kids) are really cool. They've already rubbed elbows with tons of celebrities who are, frankly, clamoring to chat with them. In one clip, among many hilarious moments with Steve Carrell and Will Ferrell, Carell asks Zoey, "If you were invisible, what's the first thing you'd do?" Zoey answers mischievously, "I'd try to trick my mom and dad like a ghost."
Ferrell then asks, "Zoey, what if I asked Steve if I could borrow his car and then I never gave it back?" Zoey, without giving it a second of thought, brilliantly answers, "Why can't you just take a taxi?"
