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8 Fun Things To Do During The Holidays That Have Nothing To Do With Shopping

Many of us are concerned that the holidays have lost meaning and become all about retail therapy. Gift-giving is nice, but it's not everything. That's why people are shifting their focus to spending "time" during the holidays instead of just money.

Quicky Facts:

  • 51% of Americans shopped on Black Friday, and 46% shopped on Cyber Monday.
  • 45% plan to shop on Thanksgiving.
  • It's becoming increasingly common for shoppers to go into debt with "Black Friday" loans.
  • Costco, GameStop, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls are closing on Thanksgiving to give employees family time.

Here are some ways people are taking back their holidays!

Spend time in the great outdoors. Go to a cottage and appreciate nature.

Instead of buying tons of new clothes, clean out your closet and donate some of yours to charity.


Educate your palate at a wine tasting tour.

If you want something new, it doesn't have to be bought. Why not try a new recipe?

Volunteer for a place you feel passionate about, like a soup kitchen.

Take some "me" time. Pamper yourself by booking a massage.

Go all out on decorating.

Spend time hanging out with your best friend.

Well ... you gave it some thought but you're still totally hitting the shops?

Check out this video (especially at 1:52) to see how your level of happiness can change depending on "what" you buy.

Or you can just stay in and count all the money you're saving by skipping the mall.

Roger Federer and Trevor Noah filming a Swiss tourism ad

What do you get when you combine comedian Trevor Noah, tennis legend Roger Federer and the world famous clock-making, chocolate-brewing, Alpine-skiing symbol of neutrality, Switzerland?

Apparently, a delightfully charming train ride through the Swiss countryside and perhaps the greatest tourism ad ever made.

Both Noah and Federer shared a tourism ad they collaborated on for the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland, and people are loving it. It's one of those ads that people don't care is an ad because it doesn't really feel like an ad and it's so enjoyable to watch. (It's also incredibly effective—like, give us alllll the train rides through Switzerland, please.)

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Toddler helps mom when she's locked out of the house.

Would you be considered human if you haven't locked yourself out of your house at least once? One mom on TikTok found herself in quite the predicament with only her toddler to "mission impossible" his way to unlocking the house door to let his mom, @gesikaaaaaa, inside. The video starts with the camera pointed at a rosy-cheeked toddler on a snow-covered porch.

The boy looks to be no older than 2 or 3 but he's an expert at following directions … sort of. It's all still pretty new to him and, as anyone who's ever interacted with a toddler knows, multistep directions are not the way to go. They tend to hear one thing only and even then are apt to be distracted by a stray piece of lint and not be able to finish the task.

Everything is new to a toddler and it doesn't take much to distract them. And just about anything can be a toy. So when this mom helped her son through an open window in an effort to guide him through the process of unlocking the door, classic toddler cuteness ensued.

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Joy

Michigan family welcomes the first baby girl born on the dad's side of the family since 1885

"No, legitimately, we have not had a girl in our direct line in over 100 years."

Family welcomes first daughter since 1885.

There are obviously families where all of the children are the same sex, no matter how many times they tried to get the opposite. It's probably how the labels "boy mom" and "girl mom" came about. But one family in Michigan took the "boy mom" label to a different level because, for multiple generations, no one gave birth to a girl.

It sounds completely made up. So made up, in fact, that when Andrew Clark told his then-girlfriend Carolyn that his family didn't have any girls, she didn't believe him, even going as far as to confirm this story with his parents.

"I asked his parents to confirm that information and they're like, 'Oh yeah, no, we haven't had a girl in our direct line.' He's had uncles and cousins that have had girls but in his lineage, there has not been a girl," Carolyn told "Good Morning America."

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Pop Culture

Ethical fashion brand Passion Lilie is making a difference, one garment at a time

They create affordable, high-quality clothing using sustainable and eco-friendly methods with a focus on fair trade practices and artisanal techniques.

Editor's Note: Passion Lilie is an affiliate partner of Upworthy and we earn a portion of revenue from these partnerships.


People often perceive Fashion as an industry that prioritizes profit over people. But Passion Lilie is challenging this notion. It’s an ethical fashion brand committed to creating beautiful and sustainable garments through ethical fashion. They create affordable, high-quality clothing using sustainable and eco-friendly methods with a focus on fair trade practices and artisanal techniques.

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The Passion Lilie Story

Passion Lilie was founded in 2013 by Katie Schmidt, a fashion lover with a passion for sustainability and social responsibility. She always loved the world of fashion but was also aware of the industry’s negative impact on people and the environment. So she started Passion Lilie to create change and make a positive difference.

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Florida teacher Yolanda Turner engaged 8th grade students in a dance-off.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Teachers deserve all the kudos, high fives, raises, accolades, prizes and thanks for everything they do. Even if they just stuck to academics alone, they'd be worth far more than they get, but so many teachers go above and beyond to teach the whole child, from balancing equations to building character qualities.

One way dedicated educators do that is by developing relationships and building rapport with their students. And one surefire way to build rapport is to dance with them.

A viral video shared by an assistant principal at Sumner High School & Academy in Riverview, Florida shows a group of students gathered around one student as he challenges a teacher to a dance-off.

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Joy

Nurse turns inappropriate things men say in the delivery room into ‘inspirational’ art

"Can you move to the birthing ball so I can sleep in the bed?"

Holly the delivery nurse.

After working six years as a labor and delivery nurse Holly, 30, has heard a lot of inappropriate remarks made by men while their partners are in labor. “Sometimes the moms think it’s funny—and if they think it’s funny, then I’ll laugh with them,” Holly told TODAY Parents. “But if they get upset, I’ll try to be the buffer. I’ll change the subject.”

Some of the comments are so wrong that she did something creative with them by turning them into “inspirational” quotes and setting them to “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton on TikTok.

“Some partners are hard to live up to!” she jokingly captioned the video.

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