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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Some smileworthy finds to make your day a bit brighter.

monkey, young tailor, sweet brother and sister
Buitengebieden/Twitter, @daddyfiles/TikTok, @grazeemoladele/TikTok (via Upworthy Instagram)

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

Wait, is April seriously here already? How the heck did that happen? It feels like just yesterday that 2023 began, yet here we are already a quarter of the way through it.

They say time flies when you're having fun, so maybe it's a good thing that the year seems to be going so fast!

This week's list is full of fun finds, such as a 9-year-old aspiring tailor, the sweetest sibling wake-up ever, an incredible 3D artist, an adorable, thumb-sucking baby monkey and more.

Take a stroll through these delights and share them with others in your life who could use a boost of joy.

1. The way these students surprised their teacher with a 152-page book of his own random quotes is hilariously heartwarming

"You know what makes writing slower? Talking." Can confirm. What a delightful gift that none of them will ever forget.

2. 9-year-old surprised his dad with a dress shirt he made himself and everything about it is fabulous

@daddyfiles

Sam made me a shirt! Wow. #sewing #sewingtiktok #samsewgood #boyswhosew #parenting #raisingboys

Read the full story here.

3. Behold the sweetest sibling wake-up video ever

​"You're beautiful, Grace." Anyone else's heart just turn into a puddle?

4. A group of vacationing friends reveals which one of them is the 'airport dad'

@johannes2o

Hes gonna be a great dad💀 #airport #airportdad

We all have the 'airport dad' friend, thank goodness. Read the full story here.

5. The emotional intelligence of this little one is off the charts


6. Airbnb host woke up his guest in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

@penslucero

I’m on the verge of crying every time I watch this video I still cannot believe it. 📍 Rörbäck, Sweden

Best host ever. Read the full story here.

7. Woman explains Ramadan to first graders with a simply sweet lesson

Three cheers for building greater cultural understanding.

8. Ricky the kitten spent 2 weeks at Gramma and Grampa's and the photobook is everything

Read more about Ricky and his human family here.

9. Dad and former art professor with aphasia has covered a former barn in incredible 3D artwork

@david.hollowell

day 365 of trying to make my dad famous 🖌🎨 #art #mural #illusion #2d #3d #surreal #crazy #plants #nature #weird #painter #artist #professor #ucdavis #california #norcal #famous #viral #trending #fyp #foryou #foryoupage

Since he was diagnosed with aphasia, David Hollowell's speech has been limited, but his artistic skills certainly aren't. Absolutely incredible. Read the full story here.

10. Person shares dragon fruit with a baby monkey and generosity has never been so cute

The thumb-sucking at the beginning, though. Gracious, the preciousness.

Hope these brought some smiles to your face! If you'd like to have these posts delivered to your inbox each week, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

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Sweden’s landmark new proposal will stop the world from mixing it up with Switzerland

Honestly, do you know the difference?

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After over a thousand years of peaceful relations, European semi-superpowers Sweden and Switzerland may finally address a lingering issue between the two nations. But the problem isn’t either country’s fault. The point is that the rest of the world can’t tell them apart. They simply don’t know their kroppkakor (Swedish potato dumpling) from their birchermüesli (a Swiss breakfast dish).

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Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

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Father of the bride steals the show with his incredibly smooth dance moves

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The MC Hammer dance though.

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Brittany and Kelly’s video, which amassed, I kid you not, more than 40 million views on TikTok, shows the pair grooving in sneakers (Brittany’s were white because, hello, wedding dress) to their “dance through the decades.”

It all began with Young MC’s “Bust a Move,” to give you a clear picture. And bust a move, they did.

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They're funny because they're true.

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He covers many topics, but it's his hilarious parenting comics that are resonating with parents everywhere.

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75-year-old ‘hip-hop granny’ impresses and inspires with her dance moves

Ms. Stephanie didn’t even start formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

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Ms. Stephanie bringing it at her hip-hop class.

Stephanie Walsh isn't your average hip-hop dancer. At 75, "Ms. Stephanie" is still able to hold her own on the dance floor, popping and locking with people a third her age, and she loves it.

When you see her dance—and her enviable muscle tone—you might think she'd been a trained dancer all her life. But she actually didn't take any formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

Walsh told Growing Bolder that she had wanted her daughter to dance when she was little, so she got her ballet lessons, which the daughter hated. Realizing that dancing was her dream and not her daughter's, Walsh took her kiddo out of ballet and started classes herself right away.

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A teacher asked a great question about superintendent pay. Then, all hell broke loose.

Her earnest question about inequality in our education system was met with a grotesque abuse of power.


Why should a superintendent get a raise while teachers in the same district struggling to make ends meet see their paychecks flatline — year after year after year?

Teacher Deyshia Hargrave begged the question. Minutes later, she was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of a cop car.

The scene was captured below by YouTube user Chris Rosa, who attended a board meeting for Vermilion Parish Schools in Louisiana.

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This Māori group's kapa haka performance of Bohemian Rhapsody will make your day

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People applauded after Mark Wahlberg confronted the DJ at his daughter's dance party

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Actor Mark Wahlberg recently attended a daddy-daughter dance with his 10-year-old, Grace. Sadly, Grace had no interest in seeing her father strutting his stuff on the dance floor.

"I didn't get one dance," Wahlberg told Ellen DeGeneres. "And I told her we were going to do the whole big circle and I was going to go off. And she said, 'Dad, if you embarrass me, I will never talk to you again.' But what she did do is she hung out with me."

No matter who your dad is, especially if you're a 10-year-old-girl, you have zero desire to see him dance in front of your friends.

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