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A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM UPWORTHY
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A Kardashian has chosen a new person to keep up with, and she's speaking out about bullying.

This week, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star Kylie Jenner announced the #IAmMoreThan Instagram campaign. She's "sharing stories of 6 incredible people who have become heroes in their own way by taking #bullying and turning it into something positive."

(No matter how you feel about the Kardashians, you have to agree it's a pretty cool way for her to use social media, given that she has almost 35 million Instagram followers.)

First up on the incredible person list? Renee DuShane.

#Day1 - Renee DuShane (@ALittlePieceofInsane) a 21 year old college student who was born with #PfiefferSyndrome. Renee described it as “a genetic disorder where the bones in my face don't really know how to fuse correctly so part of my jaw is really small. I had to have surgery when I was born so that my brain could grow." Renee is so strong willed and a super intelligent girl who told me that while growing up she never had many issues with bullying. "I went to school with all the same kids all the way through high school. Right around senior year, I started getting very anxious about having to explain my condition to all of the new people I would meet in college. I started going on Tumblr and saw lots of profiles of positive, confident people" that inspired her to start sharing her photos even with her insecurities. “It's so hard to keep myself from responding to the negative comments," she told me. “Even harder is keeping my friends from getting angry." It's so important to have a great group of friends. Renee also told me about the tattoo she recently got of her life motto: Stay Strong, Always Love. “Loving is always going to be a better place than hating," she shared. Check out Renee's Instagram @ALittlePieceofInsane - she's showing the world #IAmMoreThan my forehead. I love you Renee! She is so awesome & inspiring. Renee taught ME that #IAmMoreThan the negative comments that I read.
A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on


Renee is a remarkable woman, overflowing with positivity and kindness. It's clear why Jenner chose Renee as the first star of her campaign.

The profile line on Renee's Instagram account drew me in immediately: "Because you said I couldn't, I will."

I reached out to Renee to find out more about her life, her condition (Pfeiffer syndrome), bullying, and being a role model for others.

Photo of Renee from Instagram, shared here with permission.

Renee says of her life, "It hasn't been 'easy' ... but it's always been my normal."

Pfeiffer syndrome, she explains, "is a rare genetic mutation affecting the bones of the face (i.e. forehead, mouth, cheek bones, nose) and some joints."

When Renee was a baby and toddler, she had an especially hard time, in part because she had issues with her airways. She had to have many surgeries as a child, and she recently started the process of "further improving the structure of [her] face," including surgery on her forehead to straighten her septum.

Unfortunately, as you can probably imagine, looking different meant Renee was sometimes treated unkindly.

She told me she was probably bullied as a child even more than she realized. She knew she was different, but because she was such an upbeat person, she didn't care.

However, in middle and high school, things got harder. Her feelings about her appearance turned into some pretty serious body image issues. But Renee never stopped fighting.

Photo of Renee from Instagram, shared with permission.

She says she still gets negative comments on Tumblr and Instagram every now and then, but it's not slowing her down. "I make it a point to focus more on my attitude," Renee says. "I don't want to be the bullied who turns into a bully. I'm more concerned with what I think of me than what others think of me."

As she's gotten older, Renee has gained an even more insightful view on life. "Since starting college, I've learned that nobody is a worse critic than yourself," she says. "I've also learned that educating other people is the best way to deal with [them] being rude."

She thinks most questions come from a place of curiosity. Her way of dealing with it? Let 'em ask. "In that way I gain confidence because I put all my 'flaws' out on the table," she explains. "Confidence is a mindset, it's not something you achieve and then BAM you're okay now. The biggest thing to remember is to surround yourself with positivity (be it people, places, music, etc.) and everyday do your best to be kind to yourself."

Wise words, Renee.

Kylie Jenner hopes that the #IAmMoreThan campaign will encourage her fans to do two things: focus on their positive attributes and stop bullying others.

Renee is thrilled to be a part of it. As a fan of Jenner's, Renee was touched that Jenner saw something special in her.

While she says it's a bit overwhelming having her insecurities plastered all over the headlines, she's so happy to have the message out there. "This isn't specifically about me," she told me. "It's about everyone learning to love themselves. To be a part of that and receive praise and encouragement is so empowering."

As for other people out there who are being bullied ... Renee has some advice.

Photo of Renee from Instagram, shared with permission.

"I want people to know it gets better/ People grow up, and as they go through life, they see more, and it helps them understand differences.
There are two ways to react to someone who is bullying you. First, you can just let it go, which is a strong thing to do. Second, you can call them out on their behavior, you can let them know what they said or did was not okay.
Whichever way you chose to deal with your situation, never resort to hate. The world might not be a kind place, but it won't do any good to be angry about that."


A photo posted by Renee (@alittlepieceofinsane) on

And to the bullies?

"Dear Bullies,
I've been there. I've bullied people (shocking, I know). I've bullied people who are very close to me. That anger that fuels your need to hurt others is not going to go away that easy.
Responding to hate with hate, or trying to make others feel bad, is just going to go full circle, I promise you.
My advice would be to take a hard look at yourself, figure out where the motivation stems from, and do something about it."


Pretty incredible, right? The world could use a lot more people like Renee to model confidence and spread kindness.

Pop Culture

Here’s a paycheck for a McDonald’s worker. And here's my jaw dropping to the floor.

So we've all heard the numbers, but what does that mean in reality? Here's one year's wages — yes, *full-time* wages. Woo.

Making a little over 10,000 for a yearly salary.


I've written tons of things about minimum wage, backed up by fact-checkers and economists and scholarly studies. All of them point to raising the minimum wage as a solution to lifting people out of poverty and getting folks off of public assistance. It's slowly happening, and there's much more to be done.

But when it comes right down to it, where the rubber meets the road is what it means for everyday workers who have to live with those wages. I honestly don't know how they do it.

Ask yourself: Could I live on this small of a full-time paycheck? I know what my answer is.

(And note that the minimum wage in many parts of the county is STILL $7.25, so it would be even less than this).

paychecks, McDonalds, corporate power, broken system

One year of work at McDonalds grossed this worker $13,811.18.

assets.rebelmouse.io

This story was written by Brandon Weber and was originally appeared on 02.26.15

From Your Site Articles
Family

Exasperated mom demands to know how other parents get their kids to clean the room

“You couldn’t find Jesus in this room.”

Representative photos by Canva and Evelyn Giggles|Flickr

Mom hilariously demands to know secret to clean kids' rooms.

Kids' bedrooms can be a source of contention in some households. Some kids are just naturally more tidy than others while some are more like little tornados leaving debris wherever they go refusing to clean it up. Parents can be on different wavelengths when it comes to how clean a child's room should be.

You've got the parents who are huge proponents of simply closing the door. If you can't see the mess, then the mess doesn't exist. You've got some parents that do a weekly or monthly clean themselves in an attempt to save their sanity. Then you've got the ones that have daily room cleans as part of their child's routine, but not everyone can or wants to be at that level.

Ariel B. recently posted a video asking parents to explain how they get their children to clean their rooms as she pans to her daughters' rooms that are in complete disarray.

The exhausted mom starts off by explaining that motherhood is ghetto. In fact she surmises that the "hood" people are talking about when they say the hood is ghetto is indeed motherhood before asking how other parents are doing it.

"My daughters' rooms are so nasty, everything you are ever looking for in your house is in them rooms," Ariel says.

This frustration started when her kids couldn't find their field trip shirts for summer camp, which prompted her to go in their rooms to investigate. She then shows everyone the room where the shirt was lost, exclaiming, "You couldn't find Jesus in this room. You couldn't find common sense, humility, any decent soul in this room."


The room was strewn with clothes, toys and other things. Commenters not only pointed out the mannequin head looking distressed under the bed but related hard to what the mom was saying and supported her rant.

"The mannequin head laying under table looking stressed. Her face looks like it’s saying 'help me,'" one person laughs.

"I'm closing the door. I have an almost 3 & 6 year old and I'm 37 weeks today…I close the door. It’s no way y'all messed the room up like this and expect me to clean it. So, when they get back from Florida, they can clean it themselves," another says.

"You're cracking me up! I can definitely relate to finding wrappers. I said 23 times don't eat in your room. I'm not cleaning it," another writes.

"That last part gets me crackin up every time I watch this. I watch this on the daily to remind myself it’s not just my kid," one mom admits.

But if you watch closely as Ariel pans the messy bedrooms you'll notice there's something important missing from the bed frames...a mattress. One person inquired about the important missing item and the response is not only comical but makes so much sense.

"I flipped the mattress looking for the orange shirt after I stepped on a Barbie jeep and almost broke my neck," Ariel explains before following up in another comment saying the mattress is in the hallway—it likely made it much easier to clean under the bed. And while the mom did receive some advice in the comments, it's unclear if she will heed any.

From Your Site Articles
parenting
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.


As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

The map may not subvert one's intuitive assumptions, but it nonetheless quantities and presents the cost of living by geography in a brilliantly simple way. For instance, if you're looking for a beach lifestyle but don't want to pay California prices, try Florida, which is about as close to "average" — in terms of purchasing power, anyway — as any state in the Union. If you happen to find yourself in a "Brewster's Millions"-type situation, head to Hawaii, D.C., or New York. You'll burn through your money in no time.

income, money, economics, national average

The Relative Value of $100 in a state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

If you're quite fond of your cash and would prefer to keep it, get to Mississippi, which boasts a 16.1% premium on your cash from the national average.

The Tax Foundation notes that if you're using this map for a practical purpose, bear in mind that incomes also tend to rise in similar fashion, so one could safely assume that wages in these states are roughly inverse to the purchasing power $100 represents.


This article originally appeared on 08.17.17

From Your Site Articles
money
Family

Bill Gates explains the ‘safest’ age to give a kid a cellphone

Sorry, kids.

Image from YouTube video/ Creative Commons/Attribution 3.0 Unported.

Bill Gates in conversation with The Times of India

Bill Gates sure is strict on how his children use the very technology he helped bring to the masses.

In a recent interview with the Mirror, the tech mogul said his children were not allowed to own their own cellphone until the age of 14. "We often set a time after which there is no screen time, and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour," he said. Gates added that the children are not allowed to have cellphones at the table, but are allowed to use them for homework or studying.

The Gates children, now 20, 17 and 14, are all above the minimum age requirement to own a phone, but they are still banned from having any Apple products in the house—thanks to Gates' longtime rivalry with Apple founder Steve Jobs.

smartphones, families, responsible parenting, social media

Bill Gates tasting recycled water.

Image from media.giphy.com.

While the parenting choice may seem harsh, the Gates may be onto something with delaying childhood smartphone ownership. According to the 2016 "Kids & Tech: The Evolution of Today's Digital Natives"report, the average age that a child gets their first smartphone is now 10.3 years.

"I think that age is going to trend even younger, because parents are getting tired of handing their smartphones to their kids," Stacy DeBroff, chief executive of Influence Central, told The New York Times.

James P. Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that reviews content and products for families, additionally told the Times that he too has one strict rule for his children when it comes to cellphones: They get one when they start high school and only when they've proven they have restraint. "No two kids are the same, and there's no magic number," he said. "A kid's age is not as important as his or her own responsibility or maturity level."

PBS Parents also provided a list of questions parents should answer before giving their child their first phone. Check out the entire list below:

  • How independent are your kids?
  • Do your children "need" to be in touch for safety reasons—or social ones?
  • How responsible are they?
  • Can they get behind the concept of limits for minutes talked and apps downloaded?
  • Can they be trusted not to text during class, disturb others with their conversations, and to use the text, photo, and video functions responsibly (and not to embarrass or harass others)?
  • Do they really need a smartphone that is also their music device, a portable movie and game player, and portal to the internet?
  • Do they need something that gives their location information to their friends—and maybe some strangers, too—as some of the new apps allow?
  • And do you want to add all the expenses of new data plans? (Try keeping your temper when they announce that their new smartphone got dropped in the toilet...)


This article originally appeared on 05.01.17

From Your Site Articles
parenting
Joy

It's here: A website that uses an algorithm to match you with the perfect dog for your personality

Not sure what kind of dog is perfect for you? This website kinda is.

via Pinterest

What dog is best for you?


PawsLikeMe might know you better than you know yourself.

Hello from the other siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!! I'm a dog and I love youuuuuuuu!!!

Because PawsLikeMe knows about your dreams.

Your DOG dreams, that is.

How? A dog-human personality quiz!

A sophisticated one, too! From their website:

"The personality assessment is based on 4 core personality traits that influence the human-canine bond; energy, focus, confidence, and independence."

It also takes into account environmental factors and other special circumstances as well.

It's not uncommon for dogs that are adopted to be returned because they just aren't compatible with their owner's life.


PawsLikeMe aims to stop dog-owner mismatch by playing dog matchmaker! Its goal is to help people find the right dog for them.

Need a dog that's friendly with kids but loves learning tricks and is also house-trained? DONE. Have other specific requirements? DONE!

Ya got options.

When you go on the website, you can opt to just answer the four most important questions in a dog owner's life:

1. What's your energy level?

2. What kind of parties do you like?

3. What kind of dog personality do you want?

4. What is your personality like?

After those four questions, you can begin searching for a doggie match.

Or you can opt for the full questionnaire (you should) ... and basically feel very, VERY understood.

I took the full PawsLikeMe quiz, and when I saw the results I was kindof taken aback:


PawsLikeMe GETS ME!

Then I was the whisked away to dogs who are just ready to love me.

Listen. My apartment in NYC doesn't allow dogs. But if it did? I'd be 91% ready to adopt Carli. She's perfect, and I love her. CUE ADELE and her songs of lost opportunities to love!

With all the 80 gajillion personality quizzes out there in the world, this one is hands down THE BEST.

Take it for yourself! You won't regret it.


This article originally appeared on 11.06.15


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dogs
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