Thank you, Ms Rachel.

Show me a baby or toddler who doesn't light up like a Christmas light at the very sound of Ms Rachel, and I'll eat my hat.

The American children's entertainer and educator is in the YouTube top searched of most parents-of-very-small children I know for good reason. 

Off the back of the Easter long weekend (aka, four days of non-stop parenting), you betcha she has been blasted in living rooms over the past few days. 

If you're new to the phenomena that is Ms Rachel, let me introduce you via this incredibly cute TikTok compilation of babies reacting to her mere 'Hello.' 

Known to the adults in her life as Rachel Accurso, the 41-year-old started her YouTube channel in 2019 in response to the lack of resources she discovered on the internet for her son who had a speech delay. 

With her masters in music education and her husband's experience as a broadway music director, Songs For Littles was born. It's a children's music channel focusing heavily on language development and toddler learning and it's bright, fun, silly and engaging.

At the time of writing, the channel has nine million subscribers. It became especially popular during COVID while we were all stuck at home desperate for some respite as children *quite literally* started climbing the walls. 

In her signature outfit - a pink shirt with overalls and a headband - Ms Rachel sings about 'icky sticky bubblegum' and 'hop little bunnies.' Does cute skits about where to put your shoe, 'Does a shoe go on my head? No...no no no,' and has videos specifically talking infants through how to say words like 'mama' and 'dada.' 

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As her celebrity status rose, so did the criticism. In 2023, Ms Rachel took a break from social media after receiving "hurtful videos and comments". The backlash ranged from her being 'annoying' (what's the bet these commenters were non-parents...), to viewers being upset at one of the cast on the show, Jules, using they/them pronouns. 

Thankfully, parents of Ms Rachel-loving-toddlers revolted and told the trolls where to stuff it. Because children....they love her. They froth on her. They're obsessed with her, and as the parents of Ms-Rachel-loving-toddlers we love her too. 

My son is 14 months old, and we try to limit screen time. But as busy working parents sometimes we just need a minute to get a chore done, or diffuse a tantrum, or get shoes on or medicine in. If he's going to have a screen, 15 minutes of Ms Rachel is our go-to. For his age and stage, she just hits differently compared to The Wiggles or Blueys of the children's entertainment world who seem to be a bit too advanced for him just yet.

When Ms Rachel waves, my son waves. 

When she claps, he claps. 

When she sings, he raises his hand and bops like he's at a rave. 

The mere mention at my workplace of her name, and parents are gushing. 

"I miss her, my daughter has grown out of her and we still try to convince her to watch so we can," one colleague said.

For us parents in the know, Ms Rachel is an essential parenting tool. If s*** is hitting the fan, I know I can rely on her. 

So thankyou Ms Rachel. 

For seeing a gap in the market and filling it with; 'we're clapping, we're clapping, we're clapping, clapping, clapping. We're clapping, we're clapping, we're clapping now we STOP.' 

Every single one of your songs is on a constant loop in my head and I don't even care. 

I love you unconditionally. 

Feature image: Youtube Ms Rachel.