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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

family laughing, baby dancing, family crying with joy
@_reann.m_/TikTok (via Instagram), @kelley_renee2/TikTok, @j.asonjaden/Instagram

Lots of joy and laughter in this week's list

Hey ho, happy humans!

Whether you're feeling stressed over end-of-the-school-year chaos, depressed over the challenges our world faces or refreshed by the beautiful spring blossoms blooming everywhere, you can surely use some extra doses of joy.

In this week's list, we have some delightful interactions between parents and young adult children, a hilarious take on millennials getting older, some helpful and entertaining animals, a throwback to one of the most iconic (and earwormy) jingles of all time, a photo that has been blowing people's minds and of course, some utterly adorable toddlers.

We hope these little nuggets brighten your day! Enjoy!

1. Watch this first-generation college student find out he got accepted to Harvard

So much pride and joy. These videos never get old.

2. The Holdernesses welcome millennials to the Gen X club, and it's too accurate

"The younger generation calling all your clothes 'vintage.'" HA. It happens to all of us eventually. Read the full story here.

3. If you thought a chinchilla couldn't be a ninja, you thought wrong

Sound up, and wait for the end. Such impeccable timing.

4. Daughter pranks her parents with a fake scholarship video and her mom can't keep it together

This family is hilarious.

5. This photo is blowing people's minds because it's not photoshopped or A.I.-generated or anything

Egret standing in water

Egret standing in the water

The All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies, used with permission

It's a genuine photo. No editing tricks. the brown on the top right is a wall and below is its reflection. Still hard to picture, I know. Find the full explanation with other visual proof that there's nothing altered in the photo here.

6. Check out these stories of animals sensing when someone needed medical care

Swipe through to see all of them. Our furry friends can be much more than just cuddly companions.

Speaking of which:

7. Cat thinks they're fighting, doggo makes it clear he thinks they're playing

Those are some impressive spins there, buddy. Cat doesn't even know what to do with that.

8. Footage of the Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" song being recorded is pure nostalgic joy

Everyone who lived through the 90s had this song stuck in their head on repeat for years. Learn more about the famous vocalists behind the iconic jingle here.

9. Kiddo figures out how to give a thumb's up and it's 10 seconds of adorableness

You can see those gears turning. Tiny humans are the best. Speaking of which…

10. Wee one has his moves to 'Uptown Funk' totally down and it's so smooooooth

@kelley_renee2

He's got it pretty much nailed now 🤣 @brunomars

Can't even talk, but he can sing along with Bruno. And the timing of those foot stomps. May we all dance with such abandon.

Hope that brought some smiles to your faces! Sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here to get more posts like this one delivered to your inbox.

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Modern Families

Mom calls out unfair 'double standard' of boomer grandparents who don't help with childcare

"I love my mom dearly, but I'm surprised at how little effort she puts in."

via Canva/Photos

A stressed mom and her happy, busy parents.

As far as generational stereotypes go, baby boomers (1946 to 1964) have often been accused of being a self-absorbed generation that has had no problem hoarding wealth, disregarding the environment, and prioritizing their own interests over their families. After all, they’re the generation that predominantly raised Gen X (1965 to 1980) and older millennials ('80s babies), also known as Gen Goonie, who were the least parented group of people in decades.

It’s unfair to paint an entire generation with the same brush. Still, the people who were once called the “Me Generation” are developing a reputation for being less involved in their grandchildren’s lives than their parents. The different grandparenting styles have been attributed to the fact that boomers worked longer and therefore want to enjoy their retirement. They also have more money than their parents to enjoy traveling and pursuing their hobbies. Those looking to take shots at boomers claim that they didn’t put a lot of effort into raising their kids, so why would they be any different with their grandkids?

boomers, grandparents, absentee grandparents, milennials, grandpa, grandmaBaby boomer grandparents.via Canva/Photos

A mother of one, who goes by TheCalmQuail on Mumsnet (a UK-based mothers' forum), made a controversial post, calling out a significant double standard when it comes to boomers. They had no problem having their parents help raise their kids, but they don’t want to extend the same courtesy to their children.

“It's come up in a few conversations with other parents recently about how little time their parents spend with their children, especially in comparison to when they were younger and at their grandparents' daily,” CalmQuail wrote. “Myself included, I avoided nursery completely when my mother went back to work because free daily childcare from a relative, and some of my happiest regular memories are spending regular one-on-one time with my Nana.”

“I realise grandparents are entitled to their own lives, but the lack of help does seem like double standards, when a large majority have seemingly had so much help themselves,” she continued.

stressed mom, young mom, stressed millennial, woman hands on her head, woman on couchA stressed mom with her head in her hands.via Canva/Photos

CalmQuail added that her mother lives up the road from her but still finds excuses not to help our child or even spend time with her kid. “It often feels like she's an extra toddler, as I have to suggest stuff to tempt her to do anything together; I manage the logistics, drive her there, etc. She will be there for emergency childcare requests when possible,” she continued. At the end of her post, she asked whether she was being unreasonable for thinking that her parents should put as much effort into raising their grandchildren as they had put into raising their parents.

The verdict: 68% thought she was NOT being unreasonable, and 32% felt that she was being unreasonable. Therefore, a majority of parents on the forum believe that Baby Boomers have the same responsibility to their grandchildren as the Silent Generation (1928 to 1945) did to theirs.

Many parents on the forum have experienced similar situations with their boomer parents and have given them a little grace by acknowledging that their grandparents didn’t have many resources or retirement expectations, so they dedicated their energy to their families.

stressed woman, tired mom, woman doing laundry, woman needs help, crying woman, folding laundryA stressed mom doing laundry.via Canva/Photos

“I know this will turn into a boomer bashing thread but my experience is my parents and their friends are early retirees with a fair bit of cash and feel they’ve earnt a nice easy long comfortable retirement (they have worked hard but only the same as us except we can’t afford a nanny, cleaner etc like they did…).so they’re busy on holidays, golfing, socialising,” a commenter wrote. “My grandparents were typical of their generation—very hard working, modest life, and incredibly family orientated, they had us every holiday.”

“I don’t think my grandparents had much in the way of expectations of retirement,” another commenter added. “They retired relatively early by today’s standards, and lived far longer than they expected. There wasn’t much of a sense of ‘enjoying your retirement’ by jetting off around the world or pursuing personal hobbies - they were always there and available.”

Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with baby boomers enjoying their retirement, but their children have a right to feel a bit miffed by the shift in grandparenting priorities. As times change, so do expectations, but why does it feel like younger people are always getting the short end of the stick when it comes to life's necessities, such as childcare and the cost of living? Unfortunately, so many younger people feel like they have to go it alone. However, kudos to the boomer grandparents who do help out with childcare, just as their parents did. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child, and these days, our villages need to be growing instead of shrinking.

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Pop Culture

Millennial shares the lies that every kid's parents told them in the '90s

"Chocolate milk comes from brown cows."

via 90sKid4lyfe/TikTok (used with permission)

90sKidforLife shares 10 lies everyone's parents told in the era.

Children believe everything their parents tell them. So when parents lie to prevent their kids to stop them from doing something dumb, the mistruth can take on a life of its own. The lie can get passed on from generation to generation until it becomes a zombie lie that has a life of its own. Justin, known as 90sKid4Lyfe on TikTok and Instagram, put together a list of 10 lies that parents told their kids in the ‘90s, and the Gen X kids in the comments thought it was spot on.

“Why was I told EVERY ONE of these?” Brittany, the most popular commenter, wrote. “I heard all of these plus the classic ‘If you keep making that face, it will get stuck like that,’” Amanda added. After just four days of being posted, it has already been seen 250,000 times.

@90skid4lyfe

Parents were always lying #90s #90skids #parenting


Here are Justin’s 10 lies '90s parents told their kids:

1. "You can't drink coffee. It'll stunt your growth."

2. "If you pee in the pool, it's gonna turn blue."

3. "Chocolate milk comes from brown cows."

4. "If you eat those watermelon seeds, you'll grow a watermelon in your stomach."

5. "Don't swallow that gum. If you do, it'll take 7 years to come out."

6. "I told you we can't drive with the interior light on. ... It's illegal."

7. "Sitting that close to the TV is going to ruin your vision."

8. "If you keep cracking your knuckles, you're gonna get arthritis."

8. "You just ate, you gotta wait 30 minutes before you can swim."

10. "If you get a tattoo, you won't find a job."

'90s kids, '80s kids, puffy jackets, kids look like goonies, shopping carts, happy kids, free kidsSome kids in the '90s playing in a shopping cart.via Kent Clark/Flickr

Eight more lies that parents told their kids in the '90s

Justin's video was also a hit on Reddit, where many commenters had heard the same lies growing up. However, there were a few more that they remembered hearing as kids back in the day. Commenters added eight more items to his list of 10 things that parents lied to their kids about in the '90s. Here are some great ones Justin could use to create a follow-up video:

"When the ice cream man is playing music, that means he’s all sold out."

"You'll never make any money messing around with that computer."

"Dusty went to live on a farm."

dogs, lassie dogs, dog on farm, dog at sunset, grass, trees, farmsA beautiful shot of a dog on a farm. via Canva/Photos

"You'll go to jail if you take the mattress tag off."

"My in-laws told my husband (as a child) not to flip the light switch on and off because he would start a fire in the wall that would burn down the house."

"I was also always told that if I played with the campfire, I would wet the bed that night."

"Green potato chips are poisonous, and eating raw hot dogs gives you cancer."

"My mom told me I couldn’t put on the skin transfer tattoo that came with my chewing gum because the tattoo had drugs in it."

This post originally appeared last year.

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Science

The 'world's slowest experiment,' going for nearly 100 years, is still endlessly fascinating

It takes nearly a decade for one drop of this liquid to fall.

upload.wikimedia.org

John Mainstone was the custodian of the Pitch Drop Experiment for 52 years.

Because we use water all the time, most of us have an intuitive sense of how long it takes a drop of water to form and fall. More viscous liquids, like oil or shampoo or honey, drop more slowly depending on how thick they are, which can vary depending on concentration, temperature and more. If you've ever tried pouring molasses, you know why it's used as a metaphor for something moving very slowly, but we can easily see a drop of any of those liquids form and fall in a matter of seconds.

But what about the most viscous substance in the world? How long does it take to form a falling drop? A few minutes? An hour? A day?

How about somewhere between 7 and 13 years?

pitch drop experiment, tar pitch, solid or liquid, physics, world's longest experimentPitch moves so slowly it can't be seen to be moving with the naked eye until it prepares to drop. Battery for size reference.John Mainstone/University of Queensland

The Pitch Drop Experiment began in 1927 with a scientist who had a hunch. Thomas Parnell, a physicist at the University of Queensland in Australia, believed that tar pitch, which appears to be a solid and shatters like glass when hit with a hammer at room temperature, is actually a liquid. So he set up an experiment that would become the longest-running—and the world's slowest—experiment on Earth to test his hypothesis.

Parnell poured molten pitch it into a funnel shaped container, then let it settle and cool for three years. That was just to get the experiment set up so it could begin. Then he opened a hole at the bottom of the funnel to see how long it would take for the pitch to ooze through it, form a droplet, and drop from its source.

It took eight years for the first drop to fall. Nine years for the second. Those were the only two drops Parnell was alive for before he passed away in 1948.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

In total, there have been nine pitch drops in the University of Queensland experiment. The first seven drops fell between 7 and 9 years apart, but when air conditioning was added to the building after the seventh drop, the amount of time between drops increased significantly. The drops in 2000 and 2014 happened approximately 13 years after the preceding one. (The funnel is set up as a demonstration with no special environmental controls, so the seasons and conditions of the building can easily affect the flow of the pitch.)

The next drop is anticipated to fall sometime in the 2020s.

pitch drop experiment, tar pitch, solid or liquid, physics, world's longest experimentThe first seven drops fell around 8 years apart. Then the building got air conditioning and the intervals changed to around 13 years.RicHard-59

Though Parnell proved his hypothesis well before the first drop even fell, the experiment continued to help scientists study and measure the viscosity of tar pitch. The thickest liquid substance in the world, pitch is estimated to be 2 million times more viscous than honey and 20 billion times the viscosity of water. No wonder it takes so ridiculously long to drop.

One of the most interesting parts of the Pitch Drop Experiment is that in the no one has ever actually witnessed one of the drops falling at the Queensland site. The drops, ironically, happen rather quickly when they do finally happen, and every time there was some odd circumstance that kept anyone from seeing them take place.

The Queensland pitch drop funnel is no longer the only one in existence, however. In 2013, Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, managed to capture its own pitch drop on camera. You can see how it looks as if nothing is happening right up until the final seconds when it falls.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Today, however, with the internet and modern technology, it's likely that many people will be able to witness the next drop when it happens. The University of Queensland has set up a livestream of the Pitch Drop Experiment, which you can access here, though watching the pitch move more slowly than the naked eye can detect is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

But one day, within a matter of seconds, it will drop, hopefully with some amount of predictability as to the approximate day at least. How many people are going to be watching a livestream for years, waiting for it to happen?

PoorJohn Mainstone was the custodian of the experiment for 52 years, from 1961 to 2013. Sadly, he never got to witness any of the five drops that took place during his tenure. Neither did Parnell himself with the two that took place while he was alive.

John Mainstone, pitch drop experiment, university of queensland, physicsJohn Mainstone, the second custodian of the Pitch Drop Experiment, with the funnel in 1990.John Mainstone, University of Queensland

Sometimes science is looks like an explosive chemical reaction and sometimes it's a long game of waiting and observing at the speed of nature. And when it comes to pitch dripping through a funnel, the speed of nature is about as slow as it gets.


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Pop Culture

25 long-forgotten everyday items that only your grandparents would recognize

We're not talking rotary phones. These legit feel like they're from another world.

Photo credit: Canva

Get ready to go full throttle down memory lane.

Time passes and things change, not just in the broad collective strokes of how we approach health, family, love, and work, but even in how we navigate day-to-day life. Especially when it comes to convenience. Objects that seemed cutting edge back in the day now seem like arduous relics. Seriously, can you imagine going back to a time when Alexa didn’t play your morning jams and read off our to-do list for the day? No thank you!

On that note, someone recently asked, "What were some everyday objects from your youth or your parents/grandparents’ youth that an adult today wouldn’t know about?” Elaborating further, they added, “I’m not talking about a rotary telephone or the milk man coming by the door. I’m talking about ubiquitous things no one can even remember.”

While answers varied, one prevailing theme was the amount of effort required by so many of these everyday objects. And yet, that was their charm—forcing folks to be a bit more in the moment. Similarly, just the way some things were made to last longer, have better quality, etc. is a stark contrast to the mass production single-use mentality we have now. Even still, I think some of these items we’re more than glad to be rid of (see # 3)

Without further ado, here are some of those long gone objects:

1. "Mascara that came in a little box, like eyeshadow. There was also a little brush that came with it."
@vuloxvanity Swatching Cake Mascara 👩🏻🎨#vintagemakeup #cakemascara #1920smakeup #makeuphistory #creatorsearchinsights ♬ In A Sentimental Mood - 1940s Music


2. "Cream rinse. After shampooing, you'd put a capful of cream rinse in a glass of water and pour the whole thing over your hair to detangle. That was before we had conditioners."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

3. "Belted maxi pads."
@sunnyperiod low key want to get my hands on a vintage sanitary belt 👀 #periodtok #blackhistorymonth #pads #marykenner ♬ original sound - Sunny

“Don't forget the incinerettes on the ladies room wall to burn those suckers. That was free at least,” someone added.

4. "Sardine cans that came with a key to open them."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

5. "TVs or radios that you had to wait for them to 'warm up' for a few seconds before they worked. And who remembers color bars'? When the station would just show colored bars for a minute to give you time to adjust the color on your set?"
6. "A booklet to keep S&H Green Stamps or Blue Chip Stamps."

- YouTubeyoutube.com

7. “Clamp-on steel kids’ roller skates.”

roller skates, vintage, old, metal, steel, Remember these?i.ebayimg.com

8. "Imagine, if you will, a world where you drive into a gas station, and a man in uniform comes out and asks what octane you want. Then, he proceeds to open the hood and check your oil level and radiator fluid. After, he washes ALL the car windows, takes your money, and thanks you for stopping by."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

9. "The first time Catholic girls were allowed to wear 'stockings' was during their Confirmation. It was a rite of passage, and mine was in 1968. The stockings were scratchy, thigh-high things held up by these weird garter belts with rubbery clips."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

10. "Paregoric. It was given to us kids who had diarrhea. It was opium! You won't see that in medicine cabinets anymore."
11. "Darning needles and darning yarn. In the 1960s (more or less), it was still worthwhile to darn socks. But by the 1980s, socks were cheap enough that darning was mostly a thing of the past. Maybe it's just me, though. Does anyone still darn socks?"

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

12. "A mangle ironing machine."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

13."Mercury oral thermometers. Had a fever? Your thermometer was made of glass and filled with mercury. Yes, that mercury. The temperature would lock in, so you'd have to shake the thermometer before using it. Every now and again, one would drop and shatter, so you'd have a few drops of liquid mercury to play with! What kid doesn't want to play with mercury? I wish I were kidding. Fun times!"
@nicktrav Mercury Thermometer From London #video #viral #trending #antique #lit #mercury #metal #nature #science #2023 #crazy #movie ♬ original sound - Trvluminati
14. "The little plastic piece you put in the hole on a 45 record that would make it fit and play on the record player."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

15. "A tabletop clamp-on meat grinder."
@edge29chaos Found An Old Hand Crank Meat Grinder! #meat #food #foodtiktok #foodlover #foodie #foodies #edge29chaospreparedness #edgeofchaos ♬ Bluegrass fiddle played by profession(372948) - copanda
16. "Colored toilet paper."

gen x, boomer, vintage items, vintage makeup, vintage clothes, history, cool history, fun history, ask reddit, ask old peopleAn example of vintage colored toilet paper. preview.redd.it

17. "My grandmother had a telephone desk, similar to a school desk. It had a chair and a small table where the large, heavy rotary desk phone sat, and on the side was a wire rack for the directory and Yellow Pages."

gen x, boomer, vintage items, vintage makeup, vintage clothes, history, cool history, fun history, ask reddit, ask old peopleThis could still be useful. i.ebayimg.com

18. "McDonald's french fries used to be cooked in beef tallow. The taste was phenomenally good and nothing like the bland ones of today."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

19. "Crank handles to start tractors. There were no push buttons back then."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

20. "Toothpaste came in a can! It looked like a 1930s-era whiskey flask and contained pumice powder and flavoring. You'd open the lid, wet your toothbrush, rub it in the powder, and brush your teeth. Then, you'd just repeat the processes as needed."
@jasminechiswell Swatching 100 years of TOOTHPASTE!! 😲Ommgggg why do they still smell like that?!!! 😳 Also what happened to the 30s 😳😲
♬ original sound - Jasmine Chiswell
21.“The little triangle window on a car we called the 'windbreaker'--you had to open that so you could put your window down while driving so there wasn't as much noise. A/C was not standard. Also, curb indicators on cars.”

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

22.“Pantyhose in eggs.”

(This is in reference to the distinctive plastic egg-shaped container in which L'eggs pantyhose were sold.)

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

23. “One thing that was often seen back in my youth and for a year I also had them but I haven't seen for a couple of decades are metal heel plates (also known as ‘taps’) to prevent boot and shoe heels from wearing down.
@elliot_duprey Quick lil tip and how-to! And no, they dont actually make the “tap” sound. Also, cobblers have benches. #mensfashion #fashiontiktok #tipsandtricks #fashionhacks #cobbler #secondhand ♬ Storytelling - Adriel
24. “Hershey's chocolate bars used to come in foil. Peeling it off was satisfying.”

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Last but not least…

25. “Jelly-jar drinking glasses with cartoon characters on them.”

gen x, boomer, vintage items, vintage makeup, vintage clothes, history, cool history, fun history, ask reddit, ask old peopleThese need to come back. i.etsystatic.com

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Joy

In 1997, Fred Rogers had A-listers in tears while receiving his lifetime achievement Emmy

"I never considered myself a TV star. I always thought I was a neighbor who just came in for a visit."

via The Emmy Awards/YouTube

Fred Rogers accepts his Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fred Rogers, known by children of all ages as Mister Rogers, was a gentle, humble man who taught the values of kindness, empathy, creativity, patience, self-worth, and curiosity on television for over 33 years. In 1997, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Emmy Awards. That night, he demonstrated his trademark humility, also showing that gentle spirits can exude a sense of authority that even the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world respect without question.

The award was presented to Rogers by actor Tim Robbins, three years after the release of The Shawshank Redemption. In his introduction, he referred to Rogers as “the best neighbor any of us has ever had.” He also praised him for “giving generation upon generation of children confidence in themselves. For being their friend. For telling them again and again and again that they are special and that they have worth.”

When Rogers took the stage, he didn’t thank his agent or pat himself on the back for all the hard work he had done. No, he asked the successful people in the room to reflect on the individuals who had helped them achieve their success.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

“So many people have helped me to come here to this night. Some of you are here, some are far away, and some are even in Heaven,” he told the audience. “All of us have special ones who loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, 10 seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are, those who cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life? Ten seconds, I’ll watch the time. Whomever you’ve been thinking about, how pleased they must be to know the difference you feel they have made.”

Without any reservations, the audience, composed of actors, producers, soap opera stars, and talk show hosts, did precisely what Mr. Rogers asked of them, and for 10 seconds, on national TV before an audience of millions, they quietly reflected.

george w. bush, fred rogers, medal of freedom, mister rogers, presidents, bush 2, neighborsPresident George W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award to Fred Rogers July 9, 2002via The White House/Wikimedia Commons

He also added that those who helped and encouraged the people in the room to achieve their current status are the ones we should be celebrating. “Whomever you've been thinking about, how pleased they must be to know the difference you feel they've made. You know they're the kind of people television does well to offer our world,” Rogers said.

Subtly, Rogers' remarks suggest that he believes television programming has a responsibility to help and encourage people, implying that television doesn’t always live up to these standards. He didn’t call anyone out. He wasn’t preachy. He just highlighted those who make a positive contribution to the world. Few people in entertainment could make that statement to those people but Mister Rogers.

king friday, mister rogers, fred rogers, pbs, children's tv, mister rogers neighborhoodKing Friday XIII and Fred Rogers. via HuffPo/Wikimedia Commons

Rogers concluded his speech with thanks to those who had helped him throughout his career. "Special thanks to my family and friends, and to my co-workers in public broadcasting, Family Communications, and this Academy for encouraging me, allowing me all these years to be your neighbor," he finished, adding, "May God be with you. Thank you.”

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