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Family

Dad shares his 'What I wish I knew before fatherhood' wisdom to help future parents

Dad shares his 'What I wish I knew before fatherhood' wisdom to help future parents

Kier is a therapist and a family and relationship vlogger who makes videos with his wife Noémie and 2-year-old daughter Emmy. Some of their content is comedic, some of it is serious, but their goal is for all of it to be "100% authentic."

Recently, Kier got real about fatherhood in a video he made while carrying Emmy around the neighborhood on his hip. The video resonated across a wide spectrum of people. I saw it shared by various friends in my own feed, and even by celebrities like Viola Davis.

As anyone who is a parent already knows, raising kids is hard work. It's rewarding and wonderful in many ways, but it's not easy. And if you don't prepare yourself emotionally for the task by working through your own childhood traumas, it's going to be even harder.


Kier has a way of breaking it down clearly and compassionately:

As he says, "This ain't oatmeal." Family life is complex and requires a lot from us. And commenters shared their appreciation for Kier's wise words on Instagram.

"I watched this yesterday... my wife is 6 months pregnant... I am in the most fearfully joyous time in my life! Thank you for this food for thought and masterful words."

"Wow so much wisdom from a young man. It is a lot of work forever. I have 6 children now 5 are adults and it is still a lot of effort all worth it but I look back at my screw ups with regrets and I am so blessed to have 33 years with my husband also so much work."

"Absolutely loooove this message. Please keep providing this content! Even if it changes the mind of one man you've changed his family for generations to come."

"Thanks for sharing and letting everyone know the real of life. Relationships and parenting takes a lot of work. Healing from trauma takes work and so does learning that warm love. Thanks again."

"Wow this was beautiful and so powerful and so true! 👏🏾 This not only goes for the men but also women alike who suffer trauma and want to start a family. This is right here what you said is pure gold. 🙏🏽 I've always believed in getting counseling before marriage and starting a family. It can be a great way to expose and take out all negative things and work through them. Husband or wives and children alike don't need to suffer because of our past pain or struggles that we have not yet worked through. Such amazing wisdom from you. Thank you for bringing this forward and into the light of those who might not have realized this before."

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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A Korean mother and her son

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

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

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

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Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

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Pop Culture

Kelly Clarkson correctly pronouncing a guest's name on her show seems simple but it speaks volumes

Viewers appreciated how respectfully Clarkson handled her interview with K-pop group TWICE when she asked performer Tzuyu how to properly pronounce her name.

The Kelly Clarkson Show/Youtube

It really is as simply as that.

What’s in a name?

A lot, actually. We know that names reflect certain aspects of one’s identity. We know that repeated mispronunciation of a person’s name potentially undermines that identity. We know that sometimes this is unintentional, and other times, more insidious intentions of “othering” are at play. Especially when it comes to those with non-English names.

We also know that, on the flip side, making the effort to properly pronounce a person’s name is one of the simplest forms of kindness and respect that someone can offer. And it really pays dividends.

Just take a page from Kelly Clarkson’s book.
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Pop Culture

Woman shares 5 questions to ask potential employers and people are taking notes

"Being in both senior leadership and directly involved in candidate recruitment, these questions are fire. 10/10 recommend."

TikTok creator gives people 5 questions to ask potential employers.

You know the end of the interview where they ask, "Do you have any questions for us?" It's a dreaded question for a lot of people. Even though you know it's coming, the question still catches you off guard and you wind up asking something possibly irrelevant or nothing at all. Then the whole ride home, approximately fifteen questions pop into your head.

But don't you fret, because TikTok creator Kyyah Abdul has a list of five questions to keep tucked in your brain's pocket to close out an interview. And folks in the comments are applauding the creator's ability to figure out if the company is a fit for you and clarify any concerns the interviewer may have. Her advice was so genius that even a person who is involved in candidate recruitment chimed in saying, "Being in both senior leadership and directly involved in candidate recruitment, these questions are fire. 10/10 recommend."

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@morgvn.elizabeth/TikTok

Hip-hop Irish dancing is kind of the coolest thing ever.

If you somehow missed Irish dance extraordinaire and viral sensation Morgan Bullock, you’re in for a treat.

Back in 2020, the then 20-year-old performer posted a video of her jigging to a remixed version of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” also featuring the vocals of Beyoncé. As the internet is wont to fawn over unexpected mashups, it’s no wonder that the clip sent folks into a frenzy online.

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