Dad writes touching letter to himself on his worst day reminding him that “it gets better”

“If you can just hang in there, better days are ahead. I promise.”

Dec 27, 2023

Photo credit: Array – We should all write ourselves letters like this

“Hey man, I know today was rough. I’m really sorry. I heard it was a doozy.

It started a lot earlier than it should have. I guess you could say the previous day never really ended.

You put your daughter down for bed around 8 p.m., like usual. You scarfed some food and chugged some NyQuil to try to knock out your throbbing cold, the one you caught from her (love those daycare germs!). Two hours later, you woke up to the sound of her coughing through the baby monitor. Then came the crying.

You rolled out of bed in a glassy-eyed, cold medicine-induced fog. You stumbled your way up the stairs to soothe her. Nothing worked. She cried every time you tried to lay her back down. Your head was throbbing. Your eyes dry and heavy. Her cries like nails on a chalkboard. You got frustrated and had to just put her down, let her cry while you walked away to cool off. “I can’t do this,” you thought, exhausted, drained. It didn’t matter if you could do it or not because she kept crying, and she needed you.

The whole night went on like this before the sun mercifully came up.

Breakfast time. You sleepwalked your way through cooking an omelet (you burned one side, but does it really matter?). She threw it on the floor and wailed. Did she want a banana? More water? Crackers? Was something hurting? You didn’t know. You just kept handing her things.

This was your entire day.

After that, you carried her over to her toy bin and let her play. She was joyful, finally smiling and laughing. You sat, zombie-like, sipping your coffee and enjoying the brief moment of peace. Then she tripped over a wooden puzzle piece and hit the ground hard. More tears. And then more. Normally she wouldn’t cry this hard, but she was sick. She wasn’t herself. You picked her up and held her and kissed the boo-boo, but she wouldn’t stop crying.

You put her back down because the crying in your ear was like a power drill to your temple. Normally, you’d be so much more patient and nurturing. But you weren’t yourself either.

The whole day was like this. You took her to the store where she refused to stay in the cart. She wanted to run up and down the aisles, which was fine, but then she tripped and fell. Again. More tears. She threw her lunch on the floor and cried about it. You tried to put her down for a nap, but she kicked and flailed until you gave up.

It didn’t matter if you could do it or not because she kept crying, and she needed you.

There were things to be done around the house: chores, projects, cleaning. You had nothing in you but medicine and whatever food you were able to scarf down between tantrums. It was all you could do to muscle your way through bath time and get her into bed.

And you weren’t far behind her. You crawled into bed, drained, knowing she’d probably be up within a matter of hours, hacking and coughing and crying. Poor thing.

When it was finally quiet, you felt bad for her. She didn’t mean to be a pain; she’s just a baby. A baby with a cold, at that. You were so disappointed with yourself. Why couldn’t you have been more patient, more loving? She had a hard day too.

You have to be better than that.

You drifted off to sleep locked in on one single thought: Maybe I’m not cut out for this dad thing.

I know your day was bad. Really bad. But mine was great, and I’m sorry, but I just need to tell someone about it.

Get this: It started at 8 a.m. 8 a.m.!

I know, I know. My daughter slept great. It’s hard to believe she’s so grown up. It doesn’t seem that long ago that she was only sleeping a few hours here and there, then struggling through the night. Last night we put her down at 8.p.m. and didn’t hear a peep out of her for 12 hours. I slept gloriously.

So. Much. Better.

The baby monitor gently crackled to life with her quietly babbling to herself. But I was already up. I climbed the stairs and pushed the door open to her room. She jumped to her feet and saw me, and she smiled the biggest smile I’ve ever seen and bounced up and down in her crib. As I got closer, she shot her arms into the air so I could pick her up. I did, and she laid a sleepy head on my shoulder.

She was a joy at breakfast. She sat in her chair and gulped down her banana while I cooked up an omelet (I nailed it, by the way, perfectly cooked, 10/10). I put on some music and she playfully shimmied her shoulders to the beat. When the eggs were ready, first she blew on them to cool them down, just like I taught her. She then showed off her fork skills and wolfed down the entire plate.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. There was the quick run to the store, where she helped put things in the cart and waved at every single person who passed by. Then, a trip to the park where she finally went down the big scary slide by herself. She came out the bottom giggling and ran to me.

I didn’t want the day to end.

And after I kissed her good night and mommy rocked her to sleep, I was left with just one thought: I am doing pretty OK at this dad thing.

It’s hard to believe sometimes that we are the same person, living the same life. But here’s what I know: Tomorrow is a new day.

I don’t know whether it’ll be good or bad. I really don’t. (I hope it’s good!)

But you know what? At some point, you’re going to look at that spot on the floor where your daughter tripped and face-planted, and you’re going to laugh. When you think about it, it was kind of funny, right? (She was totally fine.)

And eventually you’re going to find an old piece of omelet wedged under the kitchen table, covered in dust after she chucked it over her shoulder, and you’re going to roll your eyes lovingly as you scoop it up and throw it away.

Take it from me: You’re doing the best you can. You’re going to have those days where you wish you could keep it together better, where you wish you could be the perfect parent.

But if you can just hang in there, better days are ahead. I promise.

Trust me, I just had one. And it was totally worth the wait.”

This article originally appeared on 11.23.16

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In Partnership With Habitat For Humanity →

Homeowners celebrate the completion of their new home in Cambodia's Siem Reap Province alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers and staff.

Culture, Family

A safe, stable home can change lives for the better. Here’s how Habitat for Humanity wants to make that possible for everyone.

Better health, better jobs, and a brighter future all start with access to a safe, affordable home.

Sarah Watts

3/25/2026
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.

A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.

Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project.

Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.

Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.

Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia.

Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.

Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
- Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
- Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
- Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
- Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
- Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.

Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
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Photo credit: Canva – Man strokes strange woman's hair as she slept in hilariously embarrassing mixup

Dads, Family

Man strokes strange woman’s hair as she slept in hilariously embarrassing mixup

“I legitimately did not see that ending coming.”

Jacalyn Wetzel

4/25/2026

After a stressful day, it can be soothing for a loved one to stroke your hair as you relax. It’s a sweet gesture that can make the one on the receiving end feel cared for, which is exactly what this dad was attempting to do. But as he finished comforting his wife, he got the shock of a lifetime when another man walked in—her husband.

Tyson Popplestone is a father of three, but he says he’s lucky to have escaped the birth of his last child. The dad recently took to social media to do the popular “put a finger down” challenge about the birth of his youngest. No one could’ve predicted the wild ride the tired dad was going to take everyone on.

Man kissing woman’s head in hospital bed
Photo credit: Canva

The video starts normally enough, with Popplestone explaining that his wife had just given birth to their third child. Giving birth requires a lot of energy, so she asks him to go home and cook up her favorite meal. Everything seems normal up until this point in the challenge. He goes home, cooks the meal, packs it up, and heads back to provide his wife sustenance and support.

Popplestone returns to find his wife asleep in the bed. Instead of waking her, he sets the food down, sits next to her, picks up the fussy baby, and begins stroking his wife’s hair. Clearly, the woman is exhausted because she doesn’t stir, but this is to be expected after such a big event. Plus, the room is completely dark. Perfect conditions for napping.

Man and woman sleeping in hospital bed
Photo credit: Canva

“You know she’s not going to get much sleep in the next few weeks, so you just let her sleep,” Popplestone says. “But then, your brand-new baby starts to cry, so you pick it up, and then you go over and just sit down next to your wife and stroke her hair for 40 minutes. And then, after 40 minutes, a strange man walks into the room and says, ‘What the hell is going on here?’”

The strange man flips on the light to find Popplestone holding his child and stroking his wife’s hair. When Popplestone realized that he was indeed stroking the hair of someone else’s wife while holding someone else’s baby, all he could do was apologize. He handed the strange baby to the strange man while trying to explain that the hospital must have forgotten to inform him of the room change.

View this post on Instagram

“No one wants to hear what you’re saying because everyone just assumes you’re a massive psycho,” Popplestone laments.

Viewers of his “put a finger down challenge” cannot get over the wild turn the story took. One person writes, “I was NOT ready for the plot twist.”

Someone else says, “I legitimately did not see that ending coming.”

Another jokes, “Meanwhile your wife is hungry and you’re out there stroking some other lady’s hair.”

Man rubbing woman’s head in hospital bed
Photo credit: Canva

“Tell the part where you explained this to your wife as she has to eat her favorite meal cold. I would be EMOTIONAL haha,” this person laughs.

“This video is impressive because it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve felt such strong secondhand stress from a reel,” another person says.

“I hope that stranger mama, whose hair you stroked, gets to see this and finally believes the wacky “story” her husband has been telling everyone for years and is finally believed! Too good,” someone else adds.

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Photo credit: Canva – Students in a middle school classroom.

Family, Moms

A middle school Greek history simulation asked girls to act subservient to boys for weeks. One mom asked a simple question: was this necessary?

“How would you feel if your 13-year-old daughter came home with a paper saying she couldn’t enter a classroom without a boy escort and would be required to pick up after them every day?”

Adam Albright-Hanna

Upworthy Staff

4/24/2026

A seventh-grade class at a middle school was assigned a simulation of ancient Greek society. Students got Greek names, learned to wear Greek clothes, built temples, represented city-states, staged short dramas, and participated in Olympic events. By most measures, an unusually creative history project.

It also required the girls to demonstrate their “secondary position.” They couldn’t enter the classroom without a male escort. They were expected to clean up after the boys each day.

Nico, who goes by @nicorette on TikTok, found out about it when her 13-year-old daughter came home from school and told her it had made her uncomfortable. Nico posted about it, and the video spread.

@nicoxrette
I will be talking to the school, the office was closed by the time my child got home from school. I’m honestly appalled. Who okayed this? #parents #middleschool #middleschoolers #socialstudies #classroom #teachers #ancientgreece #feminist #feminism #sexist #sexism #fyp #fypシ #fypviralシ #wwyd #thoughts
♬ original sound – nico 🪐

“How would you feel if your 13-year-old daughter came home with a paper that said they wouldn’t be able to enter a classroom without a boy escort and would be required to pick up after them every day?” she asked. She was clear that she liked a lot of what the project was trying to do, like the Greek names, the costumes, and the intellectual discussions so that just made the subservience requirement harder to explain away. “So why was this even necessary?” she asked.

Middle school students working quietly. Photo credit: Canva

The comments split in predictable directions but a few stood out. One viewer defended the assignment, arguing it could help female students understand how far women’s rights have come and how quickly they can erode. A commenter who identified as a teacher pushed back harder: “I wrote my master’s thesis about classroom simulations. They only work if the power dynamics stay equal among students.” Another drew a sharper comparison: requiring girls to perform submission to boys isn’t meaningfully different from asking Black students to perform submission to white ones.

That last analogy tends to clarify things pretty quickly. The goal of a history simulation is to understand the past, not to rehearse it on the bodies of kids who are still figuring out who they are.

Nico said the school office was closed by the time her daughter got home. She was planning to raise it with administrators the next day.

You can follow Nico at @nicorette on TikTok for more parenting content.

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Photo credit: Canva – Pregnant woman laughs from her hospital bed.

Family, Moms

Mom-to-be trusted her sister to film her labor and the ‘distorted’ result is an absolute laugh riot

“I was trying to figure out why you were making that face!” This mom trusted her sister to film her labor, but her sister had some “distorted” plans of her own.

Adam Albright-Hanna

Upworthy Staff

4/24/2026

Sibling relationships are built on a delicate balance of deep love and the constant urge to mess with one another. Usually, these pranks happen at the dinner table or during holiday gatherings, but for one TikTok creator named Ana, the shenanigans followed her all the way into the delivery room.

Ana, known online as @anaa_dreams, recently shared a video that has left over 15 million viewers in stitches. She had entrusted her sister with the incredibly important task of filming her labor and the first moments of her newborn’s life. It was supposed to be a sentimental keepsake of the most important day of her life. However, as the footage reveals, her sister had a very different “vision” for the project.

@anaa_dreams
I found out till days later 😂 #facefilters #funny #laboranddelivery #pregnant #pregnacybelike #pregnantlife #hospital #couples #birth #family #relatable #fyp #lasvegas #couplestiktok #pregnantmama #pregnantbelly #filters #filtertransition
♬ Funny Song – Sounds Reel & Funny Song Studio & Thomas Hewitt Jones

It wasn’t until days after the delivery that Ana finally watched the footage, only to realize her sister had used various facial-distortion filters throughout the entire process. Instead of a glowing mom-to-be, the video shows Ana and her partner with unusually wide eyes, flared nostrils, and cartoonish, devilish grins. The emotional high of the couple awaiting their baby was transformed into something that looked more like a cameo from a fantasy film than a hospital room.

The most audacious part of the prank? The sister didn’t stop once the baby arrived. Even the deeply moving moment of the parents holding their newborn for the first time was subjected to the filters, turning a “core memory” into a complete laugh riot.

While some commenters were initially concerned that the sister might have “ruined” the only footage of the birth, Ana was quick to share a follow-up video to set the record straight. It turns out her sister is a “pro-level” prankster who made sure to capture plenty of normal, heartwarming pictures and videos alongside the filtered ones. From the dad getting emotional to Ana doing her makeup before the big moment, the “real” memories were safe.

The follow-up video answered the question everyone was asking: yes, there are normal photos too. The sister had captured the whole thing properly — the emotional moments, the dad’s face when he first held his daughter, Ana doing her makeup before delivery. She’d just also been running a chaos operation on the side the entire time.

@anaa_dreams
Here she is 😂 #facefilters #funny #laboranddelivery #pregnant #pregnacybelike #pregnantlife #hospital #couples #birth #family #relatable #fyp #lasvegas #couplestiktok #family #sisters
♬ Funny Song – Sounds Reel & Funny Song Studio & Thomas Hewitt Jones

“No. I’m not mad at her,” Ana clarified. Which, given that 15 million people now find her labor hilarious, seems remarkably generous.

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Photo credit: via Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels and Anna Shvets/Pexels – Can he be the father?

Dads, Family

Dad demands DNA test after his daughter is born with the ‘wrong’ eye and hair color

Was he right to be skeptical?

Tod Perry

Upworthy Staff

4/23/2026

The presumed father of a newborn baby was skeptical of his paternity after the baby girl was born with blonde hair and blue eyes. He and his wife of two years have brown hair and brown eyes, so he thought there was no chance it was his child.

The wife reassured her husband that they could have a blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby and that, quite often, a baby’s hair and eye color can change over time.

But the husband “freaked out at this and refused to listen,” the wife wrote in a viral post on Reddit’s AITA page. Instead, he “demanded a paternity test and threatened to divorce me if I didn’t comply, so I did.”

The husband and his family created problems when there wasn’t one

The man was so confident that after the baby was born, he moved into his mother’s house while he awaited the results of the DNA test. The wife stayed home with the baby and was helped through the first few weeks by her sister.

Couple after an argument. Photo credit: Canva

To make things worse, the wife’s mother-in-law began to make threats. “My mother-in-law called and informed me that if the paternity test revealed that the child wasn’t his, she would do anything within her power to make sure that I was ‘taken to the cleaners’ during the divorce,” the mom shared on Reddit.

Finally, three weeks after the child was born, the DNA test results arrived and the husband came home to read them with his wife. “I was on the couch in the living room, so he sat next to me and we started to read the results,” she wrote. “They showed that he was the father and my husband had this shocked, kinda mortified look on his face with his eyes wide as he stared at it.”

The wife said, “I told you so,” and laughed in his face. In the post, the wife also notes she has “zero history” of cheating.

Can two brown-eyed parents have a blue-eyed baby?

Although it is rare for two people with brown eyes and brown hair to have a blue-eyed, blonde-haired baby, it is entirely possible. According to genetics researchers, when both parents have brown eyes, the chance of having a blue-eyed baby is roughly 6%, though this can increase if blue eyes run in either family. And, as the wife noted earlier, a baby’s eye color can change over its first year of life.

Further, two people with brown hair can have a blonde-haired child if both parents carry the recessive gene for blonde hair. The blonde hair may darken over time as well.

If the father had done a quick Google search on the topic, he would have quickly realized that there was a very strong case that he was the father and the drama could have stopped before any damage was done to the marriage.

The support from Reddit users was huge

The positive part of this story is that the wife’s post on Reddit earned her a ton of support from people who thought her husband’s antics were utterly inappropriate. The support probably also helped to put her husband’s wild behavior into perspective while she determined their future. The wife felt bad about laughing at her husband, but most people thought it was appropriate, given her husband’s initial response.

“Not only doesn’t he have a basic grasp of genetics, he threw a tantrum and left you immediately after having the baby to struggle alone for almost a month,” CrystalQueen3000 commented. “He’s lucky all you did was laugh in his face.”

A lot of commenters thought that the woman should leave her husband for accusing her of cheating and leaving her alone with the child.

“Honestly, if my husband left me for weeks after giving birth due to a faint assumption like this, I would be done. I can’t be together with someone who abandoned me when I needed them desperately,” another commenter wrote.

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

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Photo credit: TikTok: @dadbehindthechair – The moment he stopped, it was straight to bed.

Family, Parenting

Genius parents devise bedtime ritual: son is allowed to stay up late, but he has to run

Sensory input can help little ones fall asleep, according to science.

Kat Hong

4/23/2026
Recently, a TikTok featuring one very determined boy went viral. His parents struck the deal of a lifetime: he could stay up past his bedtime. The only caveat? He had to keep running. The moment he stopped, it was straight to bed. The video shows the little boy sprinting in circles around the room, clinging to those extra minutes of freedom while his parents cheer him on. Three minutes later, he’s wiped. The caption reads, “A win is a win.”

@dadbehindthechair
A win is a win (& 3 minutes later he was ready for bed 😎)
♬ Chopin Nocturne No. 2 Piano Mono – moshimo sound design

If you’ve ever watched your own kid get this exact second wind, you can probably feel that kid’s energy through the screen. Memories flood in: tiny feet pounding down the hallway, wild giggles, and a voice yelling, “Watch this!” as your toddler launches themselves onto a pile of pillows.

Then, a little voice in your head chimes in: “Fantastic. There goes bedtime.“

But who said that burst of energy before bed is the enemy of sleep? What if it were a crucial part of your child’s nighttime routine? Child‑development and sleep experts agree: under the right conditions, a little active play before bedtime can help some toddlers wind down and sleep more soundly. Let’s unpack what’s going on with those bedtime zoomies—and how to work with them instead of fighting them.

Why toddlers get “jacked up on life” at bedtime

Toddlers collect stress during the day: following rules at daycare; sharing toys they really, really don’t want to; sitting still at dinner; holding in big feelings because you’re not “supposed to” melt down in the grocery store (even though no one wants to buy you that gummy candy you’ve been asking nicely for). By the time evening comes around, all of that unprocessed emotional energy that has been slowly building up is still there in their little bodies.

Active, joyful play gives them a safe pressure valve.

Toddlers collect stress during the day. Canva

When your toddler is pulling, pushing, jumping, and climbing, their brain releases feel-good endorphins that help them de-stress. Plus, playful contact with parents—wrestling, piggyback rides, being scooped up and spun—boosts oxytocin, the “cuddle hormone” that makes us feel safe and connected. Silly, physical play is essential for toddlers as it helps them move tension through the body and ultimately release it. That’s what’s happening in the viral video as this kid runs laps around the room. “Heavy work” helps many sensory-seeking children feel more regulated and ready for rest.

Think of it as a reset button for an overloaded little nervous system.

The power of active play before bedtime

When you time it right and keep things intentional, a short burst of active play before bed can lead to real, tangible changes. Many “out of nowhere” meltdowns at bedtime aren’t really about their pajamas being itchy or needing “one more story.” They’re the culmination of everything your child has been holding in all day.

That’s why a few minutes of big, silly movement is so essential: it gives that tension a place to go. Laughing, rolling, jumping, and even running laps around their small bedroom is your child’s body saying, “I’m letting go of the day” before heading to bed. They’re practicing turning down the excitement.

Not all play is chaos. Games with start and stop points built in (“run to the wall… now, FREEZE!”), games that take turns, and those that toggle between fast and slow tempos help toddlers learn that their energy comes with emergency brakes.

That’s emotional regulation in disguise. You’re teaching their brain, “We can go big… and then we can come back down.” That same skill shows up later when it’s time to be still, close their eyes, and drift off.

It deepens your connection

Most toddlers just want their parents to be there at bedtime, present and solely focused on them. When you put your phone down and spend even five minutes playing—being the horse and letting them climb on top of you, assuming the role of ‘tickle monster’ or the bridge they crawl under—you add to their sense of connection right before the hardest separation of the day: saying goodnight.

Feeling seen and secure can make bedtime seem less like a painful goodbye and more like a soft landing. Large sleep studies on young children have found that simple, consistent bedtime routines—brushing teeth, reading stories, cuddling, a light jog—are linked with longer, less disruptive sleep and fewer behavioral struggles over time.

It helps their bodies feel ready to rest

In the same way that adults sleep more deeply after a long walk or a workout, toddlers’ bodies respond to movement. A little physical effort equals a calm mind, which sends the clear signal: “Oh, right. We already did our big moves. Now, we can rest.”

Physical activity can lead to faster bedtimes. Canva

For some families, that combination (physical activity and emotional regulation) can lead to faster bedtimes, fewer “one more” negotiations, and restorative sleep. Instead of an emotional 40-minute standoff about “I’m not ready for bed” nonsense (even when their eyes are literally halfway closed), their bedtime routine transforms into an easy cycle: five minutes of running around, a deep breath, one fairytale, and lights off.

How to add energy that doesn’t wreck bedtime

An important note: this is not about letting your child go wild until they crash. It’s a little intentional play that turns into a clear, gentle slide into calm. The viral TikTok provides a wonderful example of that system at play: parents say yes to movement, but it’s contained within the parameters of “bedtime.”

@courtneyenglish.ot
It can be difficult to calm you child’s body before bed! Try these during your next bed time routine! #momsoftiktok #toddlermom #preschoolmom #sensoryprocessing #bedtimeroutine #bedtimeactivites #pediatricot #pediatricoccupationaltherapy #occupationaltherapy
♬ original sound – Courtney | Pediatric OT

1. Start early

Aim to begin active play about 40–60 minutes before bedtime. Keep the high-energy section brief, ideally about 5 to 15 minutes. Consider running, jumping, and horse play as openers to your bedtime routine, not the grand finale.

2. Choose “heavy work” activities

Many toddlers, especially the endlessly wiggly ones, crave what therapists call “heavy work”: pushing, pulling, climbing, and crashing that give deep input to their muscles and joints. For many sensory‑seeking kids, that kind of play is especially soothing.

A few ideas:
- Pull your toddler on a smooth blanket down the hallway like a “train ride.”
- Let them jump from a mini trampoline or low stool into a safe pillow pile.
- Offer piggyback rides and pretend you are different animals (a bouncy kangaroo, a slow turtle, a galloping horse).
Again, the goal isn’t to exhaust them. Their bodies are chock-full of pent-up energy. Laughing and physical activity act as powerful release valves.

3. Build a clear transition

When active play is over, you need a simple ritual that says, “We’re shifting gears now.”

You might:
- Set a simple timer and say, “Two more minutes of big play, then we are heading to the bath.”
- Turn the overhead lights down and switch on a softer lamp.
- Lower your voice and move into the next steady step: bath, pajamas, teeth, stories.
For this portion, it’s wise to repeat the same order and steps on most nights. Their brains start to recognize the pattern: big play leads to a calm routine, which turns into sleep.

A parent’s attention is all a child wants. Canva

4. Stay present, even if you’re tired

No one is asking you to suit up and become a wrestling maniac every night like it’s the WWE. But even when you’re exhausted or “touched out,” you can still provide an anchor.

Set up the pillow pile. Hold the blanket they are pulling. Referee a sibling “pillow tower demolition.” Cheer them on from the floor as they run their own version of that TikTok sprint.

More than any specific game, your attention makes this one of connection, not chaos.

Oh, and never forget that safety is non-negotiable. Before engaging in active play, scan the room for sharp corners or tripping hazards. Skip roughhousing if your child already looks overtired or seems unsteady.

When active play may not be the right fit

For some kids, bedtime rough-and-tumble is simply not the answer. That’s okay. If your toddler is sensitive to noise, sudden movement, and general chaos, high-energy play in the evening might leave their pint-sized nervous system feeling frenetic rather than soothed. Children who are “sensory avoidant” often wind down better with gentler, predictable routines before sleep.

Red flags that the play is too much or too late:
- Their giggles tip into frantic, wild running they cannot seem to stop.
- They are more tearful, not less, once the game ends.
- It consistently pushes bedtime later and later, even with a calm routine afterward.
In cases like these, consider leaning into cozy sensory activities, like deep pressure hugs, slow rocking, or quiet stretches, and keep high-energy play earlier in the day.

@sarahockwellsmith
Why you should introduce active play with your children before bedtime? #parentingtips #learnwithtiktok #tiktoktips #parentsoftiktok #parentingtips #parentsbelike #parentinghack101 #parentinghacks101 #mumsoftiktok #toddlersoftiktok #toddlersleep #sleeptraining #sleeptrainingtips #sleeptrainingtoddler #sleeptrainwithoutsleeptraining #gentleparenting #gentleparentinghacks #gentlesleepcoach #gentlesleeptraining #gentlesleepchanges #preschoolactivities #bedtimeroutine #childsleep #tiredmumsclub
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Make bedtime more joyful

Sure, bedtime can be stressful, but it can also provide a daily opportunity to reconnect with your child.

A few moments of wild laughter. A blanket ride down the hallway. One last big jump into your arms. These are the moments their bodies will remember when the lights go out. It all provides a sense of “I moved, I let it out, I am safe. They are here.”

For some toddlers, this is exactly the safety that lets their brain finally say, “Okay, I can sleep now.”

If you have a high-energy child, you might try five minutes of play tonight. See what happens. Under the right conditions, those bedtime zoomies might be the precursor of a sweet night’s sleep for both of you.
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Photo credit: Canva, @emilykmay/X – woman lying in a hospital bed looking out the window

Family, Moms

People are in disbelief learning how many moms literally daydream about being hospitalized

It’s a real phenomenon.

Annie Reneau

Upworthy Staff

4/23/2026

It’s hard to explain the relentless intensity of having young children if you haven’t done it. It’s wonderful, beautiful, magical and all of that, it truly is, but it’s a lot. Like, a lot. It’s a bit like running an ultramarathon through the most beautiful landscape you can imagine. There’s no question that it’s amazing, but it’s really, really hard. And sometimes there are storms or big hills or obstacles or twisted ankles or some other thing that makes it even more challenging for a while.

Unfortunately, a lot of moms feel like they’re running that marathon alone. Some actually are. Some have partners who don’t pull their weight. But even with an equal partner, the early years tend to be mom-heavy, and it takes a toll. In fact, that toll is so great that it’s not unusual for moms to fantasize about being hospitalized, not with anything serious, just something that requires a short stay simply to get a genuine break.

The mental and physical exhaustion of parenting

In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), a mom named Emily shared this truth: “[I don’t know] if the lack of community care in our culture is more evident than when moms casually say they daydream about being hospitalized for something only moderately serious so that they are forced to not have any responsibilities for like 3 days.”

In a follow-up tweet, she added, “And other moms are like ‘yeah totally’ while childfree Gen Z girls’ mouths hang open in horror.”

Mothers share their own experiences

Other moms corroborated, not only with the fantasy but the reality of getting a hospital break:

“And can confirm: I have the fondest memories of my appendicitis that almost burst 3 weeks after my third was born bc I emergency had to go get it taken out and I mean I let my neighbor take my toddlers and I let my husband give the baby formula, and I slept until I was actually rested. Under the knife, but still. It was really nice,” wrote one mom.

“I got mastitis when my first was 4 months old. I had to have surgery, but my hospital room had a nice view, my mom came to see me, the baby was with me but other people mostly took care of her, bliss,” shared another.

An exhausted mom holds her newborn baby. Photo credit: Canva

Some people tried to blame lackadaisical husbands and fathers for moms feeling overwhelmed, but as Emily pointed out, it’s not always enough to have a supportive spouse. That’s why she pointed to “lack of community care” in her original post.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to raise a mother. Without the proverbial village, we end up bearing too much of the weight of childrearing ourselves. We’re not just running the ultramarathon. We’re also carrying the water, bandaging the blisters, moving fallen trees out of the way, washing the sweat out of our clothes and we’re doing it all without any rest.

Why moms daydream about being hospitalized

Why don’t moms just take a vacation instead of daydreaming about hospitalization? It’s not that simple. Many people don’t have the means for a getaway, but even if they do, there’s a certain level of “mom guilt” that comes with purposefully leaving your young children. Vacations usually require planning and decision-making as well, and decision fatigue is one of the most exhausting parts of parenting.

Strange as it may seem, the reason hospitalization is attractive is that it’s forced. If you’re in the hospital, you have to be there, so there’s no guilt about choosing to leave. It involves no decision-making. Someone else is calling all the shots. You literally have no responsibilities in the hospital except resting. No one needs anything from you. And unlike when you’re on vacation, most people who are caring for your kids when you’re in the hospital aren’t going to constantly contact you to ask you questions. They’ll leave you to let you rest.

When a real hospital stay becomes a vacation

Paula Fitzgibbons shares that she had three kids under the age of 3 in 11 months (two by adoption and one by birth). Her husband, despite being very involved and supportive, had a 1.5 hour commute for work, so the lion’s share of childcare, or “delightful utter chaos” as she refers to it, fell on her shoulders. At one point, she ended up in the ER with atrial fibrillation, and due to family medical history was kept in the hospital for a few days for tests and monitoring.

“When people came to visit me or called to see how I was, I responded that I was enjoying my time at ‘the spa,’ and though I missed my family, I was soaking it all in,” she tells Upworthy. “My husband understood. Other mothers understood. The medical staff did not know what to make of my cheerful demeanor, but there I was, lying in bed reading and sleeping for four straight days with zero guilt. What a gift for a new mom.”

A mom relaxing in a chair Image via Canva

When you have young children, your concept of what’s relaxing shifts. I recall almost falling asleep during one of my first dental cleanings after having kids. That chair was so comfy and no one needed anything from me. I didn’t even care what they were doing to my teeth. It felt like heaven to lie down and rest without any demands being made of me other than “Open a little wider, please.”

Obviously, being hospitalized isn’t ideal for a whole host of reasons, but the desire is real. There aren’t a lot of simple solutions to the issue of moms needing a real break, not just an hour or two, but a few days. However, maybe if society were structured in such a way that we had smaller, more frequent respites and spread the work of parenting across the community, we wouldn’t feel as much of a desire to be hospitalized simply to be able to rejuvenate.

This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.

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Photo credit: Canva – Big brothers can be the best helpers.

Family, Kids

Mom captures her 10-yr-old son on camera at 3am comforting her toddler so she could sleep

“He said he wanted me to get some rest because I did a lot that day.”

Annie Reneau

Upworthy Staff

4/23/2026

The best feeling as a parent is when your child does something that exemplifies good character, especially when they do it without being asked and without expecting any recognition or reward for it. Seeing your kid practicing patience, kindness, and helpfulness, even when they think no one is looking—that’s when you know that all your hard parenting work is paying off.

fSo when you’re a mom with six kids and the baby monitor in your 18-month-old’s nursery shows your 10-year-old stepping up to help his little brother—in the middle of the night, no less, your heart might melt a little. And when he tells you the thoughtful reason why he didn’t just come and get you when he heard his brother fussing, your heart just might explode.

A viral video captured this scenario at Gloria McIntosh’s house in Ohio in 2020, and it could not be sweeter.

McIntosh told TODAY Parents that she always told her kids that the true test of a person’s character is what they do when no one is around, a lesson that her son, Mason, clearly took to heart when he got up at 3 a.m. to comfort his 18-month-old brother, Greyson.

The moment captured on the baby monitor

@gloriaangelou
@lighteyemason 💙💙🤴🏾
♬ Surrender – Natalie Taylor

“The baby woke up in the middle of the night,” McIntosh wrote. “I heard him fussing so I just checked the camera to see if he would just fall back asleep and saw his brother showing the best example of love and patience. He stayed with him for almost 30 minutes trying to get him back to sleep. I eventually came in and got the baby, and asked my son why he didn’t just come and get me.”

Why Mason didn’t wake his mom up

The reason was as thoughtful as can be.

“He said he wanted me to get some rest, because I did a lot that day. While parenting is not his responsibility, just the fact that he understood that he is his brother’s keeper, and considered my long day as a mom, is much appreciated. ❤️”

When he climbed into the crib with him? Gracious. That’s when you know your kids are going to be all right.

“I was smiling the whole time,” McIntosh told TODAY Parents. “He has a love for Greyson that is unspeakable. I can’t even really explain it.”

McIntosh said Mason is a natural caregiver. “I’m sure Mason was tired and cranky. He was woken up at 3 a.m.,” she said. “But how you saw him treat his brother is how he is. He steps up.”

Some kids are just awesome, but there’s a lot to be said for setting an example and nurturing kids in an environment where they feel inspired to be helpful as well. Clearly McIntosh has done something right for her son to step up in that way. Watch the way she soothes her 4-year-old when he had a bad dream in the middle of the night, and it’s easy to see where Mason gets it.

@gloriaangelou
#maxtoncharles #momlife
♬ Surrender – Natalie Taylor

Well done, Mason. And well done, mama. You can follow Gloria on TikTok.

This article originally appeared five years ago. It has been updated.

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Photo credit: Canva – Kids playing on a playground.

Family, Kids

A stranger airdropped photos to this mom at the park and the gesture is moving parents everywhere

“To the random mom who took these without me knowing and airdropped them to me… thank you.” This is the gesture every parent wishes for.

Adam Albright-Hanna

4/22/2026

Every parent knows the struggle of looking through their phone’s photo library only to realize they are missing from almost every single frame. We are the ones behind the lens, capturing the first steps, the messy faces, and the playground triumphs, but we rarely have proof that we were actually there. As PEOPLE reported, one mother in England recently received a beautiful remedy to this “invisible parent” problem from a complete stranger.

Elizabeth Green (@likedbyliz), a nurse and mother of two, was enjoying a rare day off at the park with her children, Will and Nora. While she was focused on playing with them on the slide, she noticed another woman nearby who seemed to be giving her children instructions to “get back up there.” Before Green could wonder what was happening, the woman approached her and asked to airdrop a few files.

When Green opened her phone, she was stunned. The stranger had captured several high-quality, candid photos of Green immersed in play with her toddlers. These weren’t the posed, “everyone look at the camera and smile” shots that parents usually fight for. They were authentic glimpses of motherhood in motion.

@likedbyliz
Moms get it ♥️ #momlife #girlhood #childhood #kids #mother
♬ Landslide (2017 Remaster) – Fleetwood Mac

The gesture struck a deep chord with Green, who shared the photos on TikTok to thank the “random mom” for her kindness. The video has since resonated with millions of parents who feel the same longing to be documented in their daily lives. Green noted that while her husband makes a real effort to take photos of her with the kids, there is something uniquely special about a third-party perspective catching a moment you didn’t even know was happening.

Kids playing at an outdoor playground. Photo credit: Canva

Psychologists often talk about the power of “core memories,” those significant experiences that help shape a child’s sense of security and love. According to a study published in PMC, the quality of time parents spend with their children is a primary driver of long-term well-being. By capturing these images, the stranger didn’t just give Green a few photos, she gave her a permanent record of the “quiet” love that builds those memories.

The comment section of Green’s video quickly became a digital support group for parents. One user shared a story of an older man who nervously approached her at a library to share a photo he took of her with her baby, while a single mother commented that she would “sob” if someone did the same for her.

It is a simple act of service that costs nothing but a few seconds of time, yet it provides a lifetime of value. In a world where we are often told to mind our own business, this “random mom” proved that sometimes, the best thing you can do is notice someone else’s joy and make sure they have a way to remember it.

For more fun parenting videos, follow @likedbyliz on TikTok.

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