Dad Uses Bathroom Shower to Make Snow Day ‘Bigger and Better’ for Daughter with Cerebral Palsy (Exclusive)
Dad Uses Bathroom Shower to Make Snow Day ‘Bigger and Better’ for Daughter with Cerebral Palsy (Exclusive)
Jordan GreeneTue, April 7, 2026 at 5:37 PM UTC
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Mindy Alexandra and her husband Nate bring snow for their daughterCredit: Mindy Alexandra -
A video of a dad bringing snow indoors for his daughter with cerebral palsy went viral
The family now uses social media to share their experience with cerebral palsy
Mindy Alexandra says posting online helps build community and encourage understanding
When Mindy Alexander first started sharing videos of her daughter Emsley online, she wasn’t thinking about going viral.
“I was posting for about two years-ish, just kind of casual,” the mom of four, 36, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “In the last year, it’s been a little bit more. And then in the last six months, one of my videos kind of went crazy, and then the community really grew.”
That video shows Mindy and her husband, Nate, 43, bringing snow indoors so their 8-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy, could experience it in a way that worked for her.
“We always kind of bring sensory play in,” Mindy, who lives with her family in Minnesota, says. “We’ve always done that.”
But what viewers didn’t see was how simply it started. Going into it, Mindy planned to bring in just a small snowball — until Nate had a different idea.
“He is always like, ‘Well, how can we make this bigger and better?’ ” she says. “So he was like, ‘Let’s just do it in the shower and bring the giant chunk in,’ ” she adds. “And oh man, did she love it.”
For Nate, the moment perfectly captured who Emsley is.
“She just loves to kind of cause chaos,” he says. “She has such a bright spirit, and she has so much enthusiasm.”
“She loves to do what she’s not supposed to do,” he adds. “If you’re trying to keep the snow in there, she wants to push it off. She loves to throw it. She loves to create the mess.”
Mindy Alexandra with her daughter EmsleyCredit: Mindy Alexandra
As the video spread, so did Mindy’s audience.
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The response — and others like it — has helped her build a following of more than 112,000 people across Instagram and TikTok. But for her, the growth isn’t just about numbers.
“It’s a group of people who want to know more if they aren’t living the same life as me,” she says. “They’re just like, ‘Oh, I want to know how to communicate with people who can’t verbally communicate.’ They use me as a resource that way.”
That role — as both a window into her daughter’s life and a guide for others — is something Mindy has embraced, especially after experiencing how isolating parenting a child with complex medical needs can feel.
“I think it is hard to find people to lean on,” she says. “As much as my friends — I have a good group of friends — and family too, they want to be supportive, but it’s just really isolating.”
“That’s one reason why I started posting online so much,” she adds. “I’m a social person. I like to talk things through. So having that online community and people like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve done this,’ it’s just really been nice for me to kind of bounce ideas off of.”
The Alexandra familyCredit: Mindy Alexandra
Nate believes that connection is part of what draws people in and reflects how their family approaches life.
“We’ve always kind of had this phrase, ‘do the dang thing,’ ” he says.
It’s a mindset that shows up not just in big viral moments, but in everyday life — finding ways to include Emsley, adapt experiences and create joy in ways that work for her.
And for the millions who have now seen those moments play out online, that message is resonating far beyond their own family.
“I think it’s nice for people to see us going out in public and doing things,” Mindy adds. “Like, ‘Oh wait, if she can do it, I can do it.’ ”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
