Mother-of-5 Has to Melt Snow in Crawfish Pot to Bathe Kids after Losing Access to Water

The video of a woman who melted snow in a crawfish pot to give her kids a bath amid a snowstorm has gone viral, with netizens singing praise of the innovative mom.

A Louisiana woman is getting accolades online after dutifully stepping up for her kids in the middle of an extreme snowstorm. A now-viral clip shows her bathing all five youngsters in her crawfish pot, using melted snow.

The woman, Marie Harper of Shreveport, was forced to turn to the extreme measure after losing water supply in her home due to the low temperatures notable for Louisiana in the winter.

Harper's sister Danielle Manning first shared the story on Twitter in February, along with photos showing the mom of five in action. The creative mom did the needful, shoveling heaps of snow into a giant crawfish pot and setting it to boil on a large stove, hence coming up with enough water to go round. Danielle shared on Twitter:

"Y'all... I cannot. I'm dying. With no water service, my sister just used their crawfish pot to melt snow and warm up the water in order to give the kids a bath tonight."

The post caught the attention of netizens in no time, and the mom began making headlines. Manning shared an update on the post on Twitter, admitting she never expected it to go viral.

Her update was an important piece of advice to moms and everyone else hoping to try out Harper's hack. She wrote: "Once the snow melted, they had to put the whole pot on top frozen snow to cool the bottom of the pot so it wouldn't burn the kids."

She also shared a link to the video of the hectic process involved in melting the snow and bathing the kids. A copy of the video, available on YouTube, began with a tour of the Shreveport home, including various faucets which had water frozen over at the tips.

The video compilation also showed the woman shoveling snow into the pot using a plastic bowl. Once satisfied with the quantity, she bent over and ignited the gas stove, standing guard and stirring with a wooden paddle until the snow melted completely.

She then cooled off the pot outside, as Daniella described, before giving each child a bath in the makeshift tub in her back patio, making sure to capture their cute smiling faces.

Many netizens were amazed by the woman's show of commitment to her babies, beating the odds to give them their much-needed bath. A Twitter user wrote:

"Wow! She's a great mom. My kids just wouldn't have gotten a bath that night. She really went to great lengths to bathe those kids! Great job mom!"

Another commended Harper for being able to "pull herself up by the bootstraps" amid an unfavorable situation. Others were happy to adopt the creative idea, giving Harper the thumbs up for her efforts.

One commenter wrote: "I love this. We've been without water since Sunday. So I think this is a fabulous idea. Too bad my kids are in high school, or I would have tried this."

Some people admired the mom for creating such amazing memories with her kids, which they could fondly reminisce on and smile about in the future. A comment read:

"The kids will remember forever. Oh, your car is broken down? Well, my mom used to give us baths in the crawfish pot! Uphill in the snow."

Many more found the story hilarious, as it brought bizarre thoughts to mind at first glance. Heaving a sigh of relief, someone wrote: "Whew! For a minute there, I thought they were cooking their youngest to feed the family."

Manning told news outlets that her sister picked up the idea from watching friends warm their kids' bathing water. She figured getting stuck in extreme temperatures was the perfect time to put the giant crawfish pot to good use.