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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of delights from around the internet.

10 things that made us smile this week

From a dancing weatherman to a koala with a stuffed koala, here are 10 things to make you smile.

Hi friends!

It's the weekend, which means it's time for another roundup of joy from around the internet. Our world through the lens of the news and social media can look awfully bleak, and while there are definitely severe challenges to face and problems to work through, we don't do ourselves any favors by focusing primarily on the negative. We gotta break up the darkness with some sunlight wherever and whenever we can.

Sometimes that might look like highlighting an awesome human doing awesome things. Sometimes it looks like being reminded of the delightful joy of children and animals. Sometimes it might be a dose of fun-filled energy from a viral dance video. While they won't solve our problems, these seemingly small things can actually make a difference in our mindset and heartset, giving us the boost we need to keep on fighting the good fight.


So if you're feeling the weight of the world and need a little pick-me-up, we've got you covered. Here are 10 things that made us smile this week. Hope they make you smile, too.

Let's start with the bestest greeting ever. 

Who wouldn't be delighted to see this 3-year-old's confident "Good morning!" What a way to start the day.

Speaking of adorableness, check out this wee one trying to say "alligator."

@cnblucky38

Reply to @purplelovinggirl yep its right here 🤣🙌

"AGGLLGAGLGLGLGLGLGLGLGL!" Absolutely the best. Don't ever correct him, please.

This 5-year-old has got MOVES.

@officialnickkosir

Already goated and she’s only 5 🤩

Nick Kosir is known as "The Dancing Weatherman" (he really is a working meteorologist) but his 5-year-old sidekick definitely steals the show in this video. (His blue shoes, though. Love.)

The wholesome sass on this young lady. Epic. 

"You will see." Oh my. The pigtails combined with the arm stance combined with the glasses drop. It's Melody's world, y'all. We're just living in it.

Betty Reid Soskin blows #aginggoals right out of the water.

Soskin became a park ranger at 85, well after most people are fully past retirement age—not because she had to, but because she wanted to. She loved sharing forgotten stories of African Americans during WWII in her time with the National Park Service, but at 100—one hundred years old, holy cow—she's finally hanging up her hat. Read more about Ranger Betty and see her in action here.

High schooler's note to school librarian is a perfectly poetic ode to all librarians.

The student clearly wanted to express love for the librarian, and used quotes from famous authors (the first is from Barbara Kingsolver) to do so. So sweet.

Rick Astley's cover of a Foo Fighters song is surprisingly great. 

This isn't new, but it was new to me and holy cow. Am I the only one who didn't know Rick Astley had this in him? Read the full story here.

A TikTok challenge that's actually wholesome, kid-friendly and educational. 

TikTok "challenges" can be problematic, if not downright dangerous sometimes, so it's fun to see one that's just good old-fashioned fun. This video is riveting, like watching a game of Gen Z Jenga. Plus it's a good way for kids to experiment with surface tension. Read the full story here.

A koala with a stuffed koala friend. Come on now. 

I mean, this is just pure cuteness.

There is no one happier than this cat on a sheep.

That's a cat living its best life. And sheepy is just sitting there letting it happen. So soothing.

Hope that brought some delight to your day! Come back next week for another roundup of smile-worthy finds from around the internet.

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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It's incredible what a double-sided magnet can do.


A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


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Pop Culture

Woman was mocked online for calling an $80 purse a 'luxury item.' Her response went viral.

"I'm so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”

@zohtaco/TikTok

Zoe Gabriel, showing off her new purse from Charles & Keith

Insults of any kind are painful, but jabs towards someone’s financial status are their own breed.

In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.

In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.

One comment seemed to stand out above the rest and prompted Gabriel to post an emotional response video.

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Ring doorbell video captures what it's like to be the default parent.

Kids, man. I'm not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you're the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there's not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven't sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you're not the default parental unit.

One parent captured exactly what it's like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don't you fret, they're modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.

Back when we were children, this would've done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese's kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it's as good as a phone call.

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Pop Culture

'American Idol' contestant has perfect response to Katy Perry's 'mom-shaming' joke

The 25-year-old used the moment to stand up for moms everywhere.

@sarabethliebe/TikTok

"Keep loving your babies."

You might recall us singing the praises of Sara Beth, the exuberant young mom with major vocal chops dubbed the “Accidental American Idol.”

During Sara Beth’s initial audition for the show, judge Katy Perry made a joke that rubbed many viewers the wrong way.

Before Sara Beth even began to sing, the 25-year-old revealed that she had three children, which prompted Katy Perry to dramatically stand up from her seat and feign shock. When Sara Beth, all smiles, said, “If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out,” Perry retorted, “Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much.”

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YouTube creator Steve Mould shows us what echo looks like through an acoustic camera.

It’s bizarre to think about seeing sound, but nowadays we can do just that. If you haven’t seen an acoustic camera before, that’s because they’re mainly used for industrial purposes, but they’ve been available commercially from gfai tech since 2001.

YouTuber Steve Mould, who has a science channel with over 2.1 million subscribers, took the complicated concept of the acoustic camera and made it easy to understand in his latest video, “Acoustic cameras can SEE sound.”

In the video, Mould explains how an acoustic camera is much like your smartphone's video recorder. But it also creates visual representations of sound emanating from where it’s generated within the video.

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