ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Many children dream of getting puppies or bicycles for Christmas, but one little boy was thrilled to open merchandise based on Georgia’s one and only president.

In a now-viral video posted to TikTok on Sunday, Ryan, a 5-year-old from New Jersey, is seen with a pillow, a blanket and pajamas — dubbed “Jimmy Jammies” — themed after Jimmy Carter.

“I’m only sleeping on Jimmy Carter,” Ryan proudly announces.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Remembering Jimmy Carter, who passed away one year ago

Lauren, Ryan’s mother, said her son’s obsession with Carter started when he was 3. After learning about figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln at school for Presidents’ Day, he came home and brought out an interactive presidential chart his grandmother gave him, asking Lauren which leaders were still alive.

At the time, Carter was 98, which amazed Ryan.

“And he’s a very inquisitive child, so he kept asking me all these questions, so I’m looking it up. I truthfully didn’t know much about Jimmy Carter before all this,” Lauren explained in a separate video. “And I’m telling him all these things, and I’m like, ‘Wow. What a good person he was.’”

Since then, Carter has been Ryan’s hero.

Commenters said they found the video quirky and cute — but to Lauren, her son’s appreciation of Carter is more profound than that.

“(Carter) truly was kind to everybody, which is what I’m trying to instill in both my children,” she said. “Jimmy Carter is an absolute gem of a human, and the fact that Ryan could see this at such a young age? Of course I’m going to support this.”

Carter died at the age of 100 a year ago Monday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Carter Center endures one year after former president’s passing

Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy now bears Jimmy, Rosalynn Carter’s names

USPS releases commemorative Jimmy Carter stamp on late president’s 101st birthday

Jimmy, Rosalynn Carter’s gravesite opens to the public in Plains

Jimmy Carter wins posthumous Grammy for narrating an audiobook

Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.