Michigan mom's viral thermostat questionnaire applauded by parents

CLARKSTON, Mich., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A Michigan mom is being hailed as a hero by parents for a viral post showing the questions her kids must answer before touching the thermostat.

Mother-of-three Autumn Brandon said her Facebook post, which shows the thermostat at her Clarkston home along with the list of questions, was inspired by the dropping temperatures at night, which have reached into the 30s.

The note reads:

"[Unless] you answer YES to all of these... Do not turn on the heat!!!

Are you wearing a hoodie, pants, socks?

Is it November?

Do you pay the gas bill?"

Brandon said she made the post public when a friend asked to share it, and the next time she logged into Facebook she saw the post had taken off with thousands of likes, shares and comments.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen," Brandon told WXIN-TV. "It's funny because when my sons found out the post went viral, they just said, 'Mom, that's just 33,000 people that now know how much you nag us.'"

The mother said her biggest regret is a spelling error -- omitting an "s" from the word "unless."

"If I would have known this was going to go viral, I would have maybe typed it up or something and checked my spelling," she said.