I’ll be honest; I didn’t know what to expect when I hit play on the video for mxmtoon’s new single “Fever Dream.”

After 3 minutes, though, I was drowning in sweetness and nostalgia. If you’re a parent of kids who have outgrown elementary school, the video will absolutely take you back to the days of school plays, orchestra concerts, and dance recitals… events that, if you’re like most of us, were simply to be endured at the time.

Almost no one looks forward to a 4th grade band concert or an elementary school production of The Lion King Jr. They’re cringey and seemingly interminable. But once those days are in our rear-view mirrors, there’s no getting them back.

In the video, mxmtoon (aka Maia) has gathered together and compiled footage from her own elementary school performances in a type of “home video” backed by her now-19-year-old vocals and lyrics that betray her relatively young age.

Take another look before it goes
Days are only footprints in the snow
How far away can I walk
Till I’m way too far from home
I wish I knew, I wish I knew

Perhaps this just hits surprisingly close to home for me since Maia is a mixed Chinese-American, and I see so much of my own daughter in her. And her recognition of the fleeting, ephemeral nature of childhood breaks my heart. And makes me want to not just endure the moments I have with my 5th grader but fully embrace and love every second of them.

After writing her first song with two friends for a music class at age 13, Maia continued writing on her own and in 2017, she began posting her music on SoundCloud. Eventually, she uploaded a heart-on-sleeve track called “feelings are fatal.”

“At the time I was like, ‘Whatever – I have 200 followers, I’m just gonna post it,’” she recalls. “But then people really responded to it, which made me realize that I needed to keep my music as candid as possible, because that’s what people connect with.”

Indeed. If you’re intrigued by the video above, check out her MANY other songs or catch her on tour!

Take your time, enjoy it
Every fleeting moment
Getting by, so boring