Mom thought 5-year-old was holding a doll in the backseat—then realized her mistake

Every parent knows the chaotic rush of getting kids out the door, and for mom Alanna Matson (@ajmagnifica), a recent trip to ballet class with her 5-year-old twins, Bria and Cora, included an extra passenger she wasn't expecting.

The story, which has since delighted audiences on TikTok, started as a completely normal, hectic afternoon. Matson was rushing home from work to get the girls into the car and off to their class.

Speaking with TODAY, Matson explained that her daughters have a habit of wrapping their toy dolls in blankets to cradle them during car rides. On this day, both girls showed up with their blankets, and Matson, focused on the clock, buckled them in and started driving.

A collection of dollsCanva

Everything seemed fine for the first mile. Then, Matson heard an "unusual sound" from the backseat.

She glanced back and discovered Cora wasn't cuddling a doll. Instead, she had the family cat, Tito, "warmly wrapped up." The feline, Matson recalled, looked completely bewildered by his predicament.

"Tito was like, ‘I think we’ve made a grave mistake here,’” the mom remarked.

Stunned, Matson pulled the car back into her driveway. When she asked Cora why she had orchestrated the cat-napping, the 5-year-old had a simple, heartwarming motive.

“Because he’s my best friend,” Cora remarked with a satisfied smile.

A little girl plays with her favorite dollCanva

It turns out, the twins had meticulously hidden the cat in a corner while their mom was buckling them in. Matson, trying to hold back laughter, had to explain that Tito, unfortunately, could not attend ballet class.

“Be free,” she remarked as she let the worried cat out. Tito "jumped and ran straight into their yard, no longer bound by the blanket."

The hilarious "heist" has charmed people on TikTok, who flooded the comments. “I wonder how far they would have made it if he had not meowed,” one user, @mj.bobo2002, wrote.

Another, @beth1852, perfectly summed up the cat’s point of view: “Tito was like, ‘This was a strategic error on my part.’”

But for most, the 5-year-old's reasoning was impossible to argue with. As user @allisondahlman noted, “This made me so happy, I love her.”

This article originally appeared earlier this year.