+
Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.

boy riding bike with joy, older women entertaining baby

From giggling kiddos to the generosity of strangers, this week's roundup is full of joy.

What do you get when you combine a hilarious Boyz II Men remake, Paul Rudd singing about a beanie, a heartwarming obituary and a sling-shotting squirrel with perfect aim?

You get Upworthy's list of 10 things that made us smile this week. Naturally.

These roundups are always an eclectic mix of delightful finds, and this week's list is no exception. Joy can be found in so many places in so many ways, and it's fun to see what trips people's smile triggers.


If you're looking for something to lift your spirits, something in this list is sure to do the trick. Enjoy!

1. Daughter shows her deaf mom Rihanna's interpreter at the Super Bowl and it's so wholesome.

@mylifeasbella

#duet with @rollingstone My mom didn’t watch the superbowl so this was her first time seeing this and SHE LOOOVED 🤩 #fyp #deafparents #ASL #rihanna #reaction #coda #xyzbca

The way she starts to jam! Priceless. Read the full story here.

2. A baby started crying on a flight and three older women came to the rescue.

It really does take a village, even when your village is a temporary one 30,000 feet in the air. Here's to the kindness and helpfulness of strangers.

3. Boys II Men remade 'I'll Make Love To You' for long-time couples and it's hilariously spot on.

"I'll make love to you like you want me to. Unless you're too tired, because I'm tired too." Oh my gosh. Nailed it. Read the full story here.

4. Daughter's viral TikTok made her indie author dad a bestseller overnight.

The internet has its problems, but it also has a whole lot of beautiful moments. Check out dad's reaction to finding out the book he spent 14 years writing was selling out on Amazon and read the full story here.

5. Emmy-winner Bob Weide's obituary for his wife of 25 years is a heartwarming viral love story.

It may seem odd to put an obituary in a "things that made us smile" list, but this one deserves it. It's a wonderful tribute to his wife Linda, wrapped up with a perfect last line: "For those who never knew her, I'm sorry for your loss." Read the sweet love story here.

6. Dad captures his son's pure joy riding his bike and his giggle is infectious.

There's nothing better than the sound of a child experiencing genuine delight. So precious.

7. Squirrel slingshots a chipmunk off its pad with perfect aim.

(Pardon me while I watch this half a dozen more times.)

8. Paul Rudd and Jimmy Fallon's 'Teenie Weenie Beanie' song just gets funnier and funnier.

Give it 45 seconds to get to the best parts. I promise, "teenie weenie beanie on a tub of Vaseline-y" is worth it. Read the full story here.

9. Sound up to see why this dog's perfectly timed side-eye got 10 million views.

@noodleandtilde

feel like someone in this room might have been part of the survey (original credit @Paddy)

Yep, Noodle is most definitely judging you. Read more about Noodle's constant side-eyes here.

10. Let's take some lessons in stealth and precision from this brilliant ragdoll cat.

Talk about walking in someone's footsteps! Impressive. And the way it took one step into the snow and said, "Nope." Totally felt that.

Hope you found some reasons to smile here! If you'd like to have these posts delivered straight to your inbox each week, subscribe to our free email newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

Our home, from space.

Sixty-one years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to make it into space and probably the first to experience what scientists now call the "overview effect." This change occurs when people see the world from far above and notice that it’s a place where “borders are invisible, where racial, religious and economic strife are nowhere to be seen.”

The overview effect makes man’s squabbles with one another seem incredibly petty and presents the planet as it truly is, one interconnected organism.

Keep ReadingShow less
@katherout/TikTok

Just another unsolved mystery

Who doesn’t like a good mystery?

A video creator known as @katherout certainly does. At the gym Kath frequents, there’s a whiteboard with a revolving prompt with simple questions like “What are you listening to?” or “What city were you born in?” Gym goers then write their responses anonymously on the board.

Kath recently became enthralled—and tickled—by a person who somehow manage to write the word “monke” (as in the word describing a group of monkeys, apparently) on every single one of their answers.

Keep ReadingShow less
@allbelongco/TikTok

How bizarre, how bizarre.

It should go without saying that it’s not cool to steal from your Airbnb. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen.

However, when one Airbnb host recently discovered a guest had—for some strange reason—stolen one of her paintings, then replaced it with a completely different painting, she decided to make the best out of a very uncool situation by sharing the story on TikTok.

As a result, viewers got to witness an continuously unraveling, truly bizarre modern-day art heist.

Okay, let’s get into it.

Keep ReadingShow less

11-year-old girl is the youngest opera singer in the world.

The majority of 11-year-olds are perfectly content balancing the pre-teen life with Barbie dolls and tinted lipgloss. But one pre-teen is busy breaking records. Victory Brinker is an 11-year-old opera prodigy who was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's youngest opera singer in 2019 when she was almost 8 years old.

If you like opera—or even if you don't—hearing her vocal range of three octaves and voice control is impressive. When it comes to singing, control of your breath, pitch and tone can be difficult, especially when you're without years of classical training. Victory's skill is so impressive that when she appeared on America's Got Talent last year, she was given the "golden buzzer," which sends you straight to the finalist round in Hollywood.

Keep ReadingShow less

Brianna Greenfield makes nachos for her husband.

A viral video showing a woman preparing nachos for her "picky" spouse after he refused to eat the salmon dinner she cooked has sparked a contentious debate on TikTok. The video was shared on April 26 by Brianna Greenfield (@themamabrianna on TikTok) and has since earned over 2.5 million views.

Brianna is a mother of two who lives in Iowa.

The video starts with Brianna grating a massive hunk of cheese with a caption that reads: “My husband didn’t eat the dinner that I made…So let’s make him some nachos.”

“If I don’t feed him, he literally won’t eat,” she wrote. “This used to irritate me. Now I just blame his mother for never making him try salmon,” Greenfield wrote. The video features Meghan Trainor’s single “Mother” playing in the background.

Keep ReadingShow less
@miztermiller/TikTok

Now THAT'S a deal.

Let's be real—buying secondhand allows us to save a few bucks, which is great. But the real thrill is the possibility of snagging that ultra-rare, one-of-a-kind item that’s worth a bajillion times more than we originally paid for it. Yes, that kind of shopping is a lottery unto itself. But man, what a jackpot, should you win.

And of course, it’s not a totally far-fetched fantasy. Costly things get thrown out or donated all the time, ready to be procured at the nearby thrift store, garage sale…

…or, in this case, Facebook Marketplace.

Keep ReadingShow less