Mom Sends Daughter, 2, Walking to Grandparents' Door with Note After Sleepless Night (Exclusive)

"I've been awake since 3:30 a.m., and didn't go back to sleep. Mum and dad are pissed," the note read

<p>Sara Cox</p> Sara Cox sends daughter over to grandparents with note

Sara Cox

Sara Cox sends daughter over to grandparents with note

Two-and-a-half-year-old Maryn Cox woke up at 3:30 a.m. one morning, and her parents couldn’t get her to go back to sleep.

The Edmonton, Alberta, locals tried laying her down with them and even lying in her bed with her, but nothing worked. Her mom, Sara, 28, and dad ended up watching Paw Patrol in their bed with her until about 7:30 a.m. when they finally saw the lights come on in Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. Exhausted and fed up, Sara quickly wrote a note to give to her daughter.

"I've been awake since 3:30 a.m., and didn't go back to sleep. Mum and dad are pissed," the note read.

"I just wrote the first thing that came to mind as quickly as I could because she was already getting her shoes on," Sara tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I said, 'Here, can you give this to Grandpa?' She replied, 'Grandpa?!' and I said, 'Yeah! Can you give this to Grandpa?' She exclaimed, 'YA!!' really excited."

<p>Sara Cox</p> Maryn Cox standing on the couch

Sara Cox

Maryn Cox standing on the couch

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Maryn's grandpa met her at the door as she approached. Although the family usually lives 20 minutes away, they were camping, so their RVs were only 30 feet away. She watched him laugh immediately upon reading the note. Sara adds that Maryn's grandma was inside having coffee, but when she later read the note, she found it hilarious as well.

When Sara saw Grandpa open the door to greet Maryn at the steps, she thought, "Oh sweet, maybe I can get his reaction!" and started filming. Later, she posted the video on TikTok, where it has since gone viral, garnering 18.1 million views and more than 4,000 comments.

"She’s gonna go over there and get fed and nap. 😂 And be a perfect angel," one comment reads.

"Grandpa understood the assignment 😂😂," another person says.

"I love how he didn't even have to invite her in. He took the note, and she was headed in," someone else adds.

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"I went to bed that night, and it had about 1,000 views, and I thought, 'Okay, well, that was cute,' not really expecting it to go viral," Sara recalls. "Then when I woke up, it was at 200,000. By the time I got to work, it was at 500,000, and by lunch, it had reached 1 million. The next day, it was around 12 million, and it just kept climbing. It was crazy. All our friends and family were messaging us."

Reading through the comments, Sara says it’s been great to see how positive and kind they are. "It takes a village to raise a child, and being a parent is really hard, but there is so much joy and humor in those everyday moments," she adds.

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