Jordan Scarfino’s video has gone viral, amassing more than 20.1 million views and 45,000 comments

Jordan Scarfino was in her living room when she smelled something foul in her house. At first, she thought her 2-year-old son, Gio, had gone to the bathroom in his diaper. But after going upstairs and discovering her son sleeping on the floor without a diaper on, she started to panic.

The mom continued to search for the source of the smell, spending 10 minutes roaming the halls and staircase for any signs, but couldn’t find anything. Just as she was about to give up, she noticed poop in her son’s hands.

“What was going through my mind when I saw him holding the poop? ‘Do I laugh or cry? Why does he love his poop so much? What am I doing wrong?’ ” the mom, 28, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“I FaceTimed my mom and said, ‘UM MOM?! LOOK WHAT DO I DO??’ ” Scarfino adds. “She was laughing so hard and said, ‘Oh my gosh, you have to take a video immediately.’ So I hung up, recorded the video … my mom said it was too funny not to document!”

Upon seeing the poop, the St. Louis local knew she needed to remove it from her son’s hands. Although Gio was asleep, she quickly grabbed a baby wipe and carefully cleaned his hands, clawing at his fingers to get every last bit out. At one point, she recalls him waking up and questioning where his poop had gone.

“He’s been potty training since he was 1,” Scarfino says. “He wears diapers overnight, and we try undies during the day. He still sometimes throws fits when it’s time to go on the potty. I think it’s an attachment thing, but I’m not sure!”

After cleaning up the mess, the mom laid her son back in bed and went to get a diaper. When she returned, she noticed Gio sitting up in his bed, picking something up. While there turned out to be nothing in his hands, after thinking he still had the poop, Gio fell back asleep.

Once the situation was dealt with, Scarfino posted the video on TikTok, where it has since gone viral, amassing more than 20.1 million views and 45,000 comments. Reading through the comments, Scarfino says she’s learned to take everything with a grain of salt.

“Not the emotional support turd,” one user wrote.

“He took matters into his own hands,” someone else commented.

Another person said, “As a mom of 5 boys, I thought I’ve seen it all. Apparently not 🤣.”

From her video, Scarfino hopes people can find the humor in this and that other moms can relate to the story.

“When I was 2, my mom had to deal with me painting with poopy diapers every day,” she says. “She eventually had to put my crib in the middle of the room so I’d stop painting the walls. I can’t even imagine what she went through! She says it’s karma.”

“I learned from this experience that no matter what precautions you take, toddlers will do what they want to do,” she adds. “Gio has been able to take his onesies off and climb out of his crib since before he turned 1 year old. There’s no stopping him!”