By Mallory Mattingly
Ms. Rachel, YouTube’s No. 1 kids’ TV teacher, has felt the pressures of navigating motherhood and fame, but a gift from her “hero” helped lighten the load.
“The other day, I was feeling down about everything. When you’ve worked for 20 years serving children of so many different backgrounds because you care deeply about them & people try to say you don’t, it hurts,” the YouTube teacher, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, wrote in a post on Instagram.
“Aron, my husband, said, ‘I have something to cheer you up!’ I said I didn’t think any kind of gift would help. I’m not into material things,” Accurso explained. “I said in a sad voice, ‘Is it a Mister Rogers autograph? That’s the only thing that would cheer me up,’ (which was kind of annoying of me to say, I’m not perfect 🤣 as Aron can tell you-especially when I’m hangry or don’t get any sleep).”
It was, in fact, a framed musical composition along with Mister Rogers’ autograph.
“I opened it & was moved to tears, touching the paper,” she continued. “I’m crying right now as I type this. I was holding something my hero had held & wrote music on. I felt the strength to push on for kids, no matter what.”
Accurso went on to explain that the first time she and Aron met, they talked about composing music. Now they both write music for her show. While on the first date, she asked her future husband if he liked Mister Rogers, long before she went into children’s media.
“I thought about Mister Rogers a lot. When I was a little girl, I watched lots of PBS,” she wrote. “When Mister Rogers’s trolley headed back through the TV tunnel, I tried to physically block it with my hands because that would mean the show would go on longer.
“As a Christian, I deeply admire his faith & commitment to every neighbor. I cried in the documentary when they showed him swimming every morning & praying for everyone. I pray daily & ask God how I can help children?” she added.
Accurso concluded: “I know Mister Rogers faced backlash for things he did, but knew were right. I will ask myself what he would do. I will never stop following my calling, which is serving young children and their families.”
Related: Are Ms. Rachel’s Videos Actually Helping Your Child’s Development? An Expert Weighs In
Accurso and her husband married in 2016 and welcomed their son Thomas in 2018. He inspired her viral YouTube show. They also share Susannah, who was born earlier this year.
Ms. Rachel is dedicated to her work, which brings her “so much joy” when she sees children learning from her content.
She recently shared a clip of a young fan following along to one of her videos.
“Seeing the language development strategies work in our show brings me SO much joy! So proud of this smart, adorable guy!” Ms. Rachel wrote in an Instagram post.
It’s clear to see that Mister Rogers inspired Ms. Rachel’s desire to serve young children and their families through educational content, and receiving a gift “from” him can only give her more motivation.
Read Next: Is Ms. Rachel Really Safe for Your Littles?
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