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How Bubbles Help Kids with Cleft Conditions
For thousands of children born with cleft conditions, Operation Smile provides simple, playful tools—like bubbles—to strengthen the skills they need to speak and thrive.
While a bottle of bubbles might seem out of place in a hospital setting, you might be surprised to learn that, for thousands of children around the world born with cleft lip and palate, they can be a helpful tool in comprehensive cleft care. Lilia, who was born with cleft lip and palate in 2020, is one of the many patients who received this care.
As a toddler, Lilia underwent two surgeries to treat cleft lip and palate with Operation Smile’s surgical program in Puebla, Mexico. Because of Operation Smile’s comprehensive care, it wasn’t long before her personality transformed: Lilia went from a quiet and withdrawn toddler to an exuberant, curious explorer, babbling, expressing herself with a variety of sounds, and engaging with others like any child her age.
Lilia is now a healthy five-year-old, with the same cheerful attitude and boundless energy. Her progress is the result of care at every level, from surgery to speech therapy to ongoing support at home—but it’s also evidence that small, sustained interventions throughout it all can make a meaningful difference.
Lilia at age 1, before surgery, and at age 5, 4 years post-surgery Cleft Conditions: A Global Problem
Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to more than 500,000 patients worldwide with the help of generous volunteers and donors. Cleft conditions are congenital conditions, meaning they are present at birth. With cleft lip and palate, the lip or the roof of the mouth do not form fully during fetal development. Cleft conditions put children at risk for malnutrition and poor weight gain, since their facial structure can make feeding challenging. But cleft conditions can have an enormous social impact as well: Common difficulties with speech can leave kids socially isolated and unable to meet the same developmental milestones as their peers.
Surgery is a vital step in treating cleft conditions, but it’s also just one part of a much larger solution. Organizations like Operation Smile emphasize the importance of multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive, long-term care to patients across many years. This approach, which includes oral care, speech therapy, nutritional support, and psychosocial care, not only aids in physical recovery from surgery but also helps children develop the skills and confidence to eat easily, speak clearly, and engage in everyday life. This ensures that each patient receives the full range of support they need to thrive.
Marie, 11 months, with her mother at Operation Smile Madagascar before her cleft surgery (Operation Smile Photos) A Playful (and Powerful) Solution
Throughout a patient’s care, simple tools like bubbles can play a meaningful role from start to finish.
Immediately before surgery, children are often in a new and unfamiliar environment far from home, some of them experiencing a hospital setting for the first time. When care providers or loved ones blow bubbles, it’s a simple yet effective technique: Not only are the children soothed and distracted, the bubbles also help create a sense of joy and playfulness that eases their anxiety.
Milagros Rojas, a volunteer speech therapist in Peru, using bubbles in a screening with a patient. (Operation Smile Photos) In speech therapy, bubbles can take on an even more important role. Blowing bubbles requires controlled airflow, as well as the ability to form a rounded “O” shape with the lips, which are skills that children with cleft conditions may struggle to develop. Practicing these skills with bubbles allows children to gently strengthen their facial muscles, improve breath control, and support the motor skills needed for speech development. Beyond that, blowing bubbles can help kids connect with their parents or providers in a way that’s playful, comforting, and accessible even for very young patients.
Finally, bubbles often follow patients with cleft conditions home in the “smile bags” that each patient receives when the surgical procedure is finished. Smile bags, which help continue speech therapy outside of the hospital setting, can contain language enrichment booklets, a mirror, oxygen tubing, and bubbles. While regular practice with motor skills can help with physical recovery, small acts of play help as well, giving kids space to simply enjoy themselves and join in on what peers are able to do.
Bubbles at Home and Beyond
Today, because of Operation Smile’s dedication to comprehensive cleft care, Lilia is now able to make friends and speak clearly, all things that could have been difficult or impossible before. Instead of a childhood defined by limitation, Lilia—and others around the world—can look forward to a childhood filled with joy, learning, discovery, friends, and new possibilities.
CTA: Lilia’s life was changed for the better with the care she received through Operation Smile. Find out how you can make an impact in other children’s lives by visiting operationsmile.org today.
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Cat owner put a first-person camera on its collar and accidentally filled the world with delight
Mr. Kitters’ point of view is incredibly entertaining.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a cat? To watch the world from less than a foot off the ground, seeing and hearing things humans completely miss, staring out the window for hours while contemplating one of your nine lives?
Well, thanks to one person, we need wonder no more, at least about the what-they’re-seeing part.
The TikTok channel Mr. Kitters the Cat (@mr.kitters.the.cat) gives us a cat’s-eye view of the world with a camera attached to Mr. Kitters’ collar. The result is an utterly delightful POV experience that takes us through the daily adventuring of the frisky feline as he wanders the yard.
The most popular video is something else
In a video titled “Spicy cats,” which has accumulated tens of millions of views on TikTok, we begin with the cutest cat sneeze ever. Then we hear Mr. Kitters’ meow as we walk with him through the grass before the scene switches to a thrilling, yowling cat chase he witnesses across the yard (while tucking himself even more securely under the bush he’s in).
The best is seeing his kitty paws as he walks and then digs in the mulch. And there’s apparently something very exciting that needs to be pounced on right along a chain link fence.
The comments are as good as the video
The commenters made their delight known.
“I love how he saw the cat fight and was like that’s not my business today,” wrote one person.
“WHEN HE DIGS WITH HIS LIL PAWS,” declared another.
“People: Cats only meow at humans.” Mr Kitters -Meows at everything-” wrote another.
And of course, countless people responded simply to the sneeze with “Bless you.”
Mr. Kitters has other POV videos as well. This one demonstrates how chatty he is and shows his black cat buddy as well.
It really sounds like he says, “Let me in,” doesn’t it?
And this “extreme sports” video is riveting.
For those who can’t get enough, here is WAY more Mr. Kitters:
Why does this captivate so many of us?
It’s funny how something as simple as putting a camera around the neck of a cat can draw in tens of millions of people. We’re all so curious about the lives of the creatures we see every day, and the adorable quirkiness of cat behavior is a big part of why we keep them as companions in the first place. Seeing the world through their point of view is just one more way we can enjoy and learn about our pet friends.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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Millennial mom is stunned when grandma compares parenting in the 80s to now
Taylor Wolfe couldn’t believe her mom slept soundly without any kind of baby monitor.
Raising kids is tough no matter what generation you fall into, but it’s hard to deny that there was something much simpler about the childrearing days of yesteryear, before the internet offered a million and one ways that parents could be, and probably are, doing it all very, very wrong.
What’s especially fascinating is that our data and best-practices have gotten so much better over time. Parents in the 80s had no idea that crib bumpers were dangerous, just like their parents didn’t know that using whiskey as a sleep aid probably wasn’t the best idea! We know better, and yet, we’re burdened by the overwhelming amount of knowledge and potential dangers around us.
Taylor Wolfe, a millennial mom, nails this conundrum perfectly as she asks her own mother a series of rapid-fire questions about raising her during the 80s and the stark contrast in attitudes becomes blatantly apparent.
The conversation that hit a collective nerve
In a clip posted on TikTok, Wolfe and her mom sit side by side on the couch and have a fascinating discussion.
First off, Wolfe can’t comprehend how her mom survived without being able to Google everything. (Not even a parent, but I feel this.)
“What did we have to Google?” her mom asks while shaking her head incredulously.
“Everything! For starters, poop!” Wolfe says. “Cause you have to know if the color is an okay color, if it’s healthy!”
“I was a nursing mom, so if the poop came out green, it was because I ate broccoli,” her mom responds.
…Okay, fair point. But what about handy gadgets like baby monitors? How did Wolfe’s mom keep her kid alive without one?
“I was the monitor, going in and feeling you,” she says. Wolfe asked her mom how she slept without a baby monitor and knowing for certain, at every instant, that she was safe? “We just slept” her mom deadpanned.
Her mom’s answers are something else entirely
Could it really be that easy? It was for Wolfe’s mom, apparently. Rather than relying on technology, she simply felt her child and adjusted accordingly.
“If you were hot, you slept in a diaper. If you were cold, you had a blanket around you.” Done and done.
Wolfe then got into more existential questions, asking her mom if she ever felt the stress of “only having 18 summers” with her child, and how to make the most of it.
Without missing a beat, Wolfe’s mother says, “It’s summer, I still have you.”
Cue the tears!
Going by Wolfe’s mom, the 80s seems like a time with much less pressure on parents.
From feeding her kids McDonald’s fries guilt-free to being spared the judgment of internet trolls, she just sort of did the thing without worrying so much if she was doing it correctly.
Parents today are feeling it too
That’s nearly impossible in today’s world, as many viewers commented.
“Google just gives us too much information and it scares us,” one person quipped.
Another seconded, “I swear social media has made me wayyyy more of an anxious mom.”
“it’s almost like all the technology, and it’s advertising, leads to so much unnecessary anxiety” someone added.
Even a professional noted: “As someone who has worked in pediatrics since the 80s, the parents are way more anxious now.”
It’s no wonder that parents’ mental health is, collectively, in the toilet. We’re more stressed today about money, work-life balance, getting into good schools, signing up for activities that gobble up all our time… everything.
So what can modern parents actually do?
Experts say there are ways parents can manage the stresses of modern life, though. Reducing phone and social media use, for starters, is a good way to avoid ruminating on all the potential dangers of the world. Parents are also challenged to push themselves out of their comfort zone by allowing their child more freedom and independence than they’d normally be comfortable with. For example, letting your kids walk to school or go buy something from a store without your help.
I don’t think anyone truly wants to go back in time, per se. But many of us are yearning to bring more of this bygone mindset into the modern day. And the big takeaway here: No matter how many improvements we make to life, if the cost is our mental state, then perhaps it’s time to swing the pendulum back a bit.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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Father of LGBTQ kids has a perfect response to homophobic new neighbor who tried to shame him
It was a colorful response, to say the least.
Sometimes, when we encounter unsavory behavior from others, a response is warranted. But the real art is responding in a way that’s clear, strong, and yet still peaceful. For an example of this, look no further than Xander’s dad, who was on the receiving end of hate from his neighbor. Rather than spewing back the same amount of vitriol, his colorful comeback had courage, wit and just the right amount of flair.
As Xander tells us in the video, the retort came after the neighbor told his dad that having two gay kids (Xander’s sister Claire is a lesbian) meant he “failed as a parent.” “So dad took a moment then replied with this…” the onscreen text reads. Next thing you know, Xander’s dad can be seen filling his backyard with huge (like, parade-level huge) rainbow pride flags. A dozen of them at least.
The video ends with the words: “No, saying things like that does.”
Then it happened again with even more flags
In another video, we learn that the not-so-friendly neighborhood watch told his dad that he wasn’t allowed to fly “gay flags” anymore.
But rather than accept defeat, or resort to cruelty, he simply looked at the rules, only to discover that his house was actually outside the map by 2 meters (6.5 feet). So up the pride flags went! And even more this time!
Flag responses seem to run in the family. In another video, Xander explains that his neighbor (where have all the friendly ones gone?) said he couldn’t sell his house because of the small window-sized trans flag hung near the roof. So Xander got an even bigger one that covered the entire back side.
Are gay people more likely to have gay siblings than straight people?
In another video, Xander introduced his sister, who is a lesbian, raising the question: is it more likely for gay people to have a gay sibling than a straight person? Research says yes. Gay women and men are more likely to have gay siblings than straight women and straight men. Somewhere between 7 to 16% of gay people also have a gay sibling.
Why the pride flag still matters so much
Pride Flags have long been a nonviolent way to stand up for the LGBTQ community. And yet, they still manage to whip up plenty of heated controversy, particularly at schools. The original eight colors all had a specific meaning, and only one color (pink) denoted sexuality. Meaning that the pride flag was and is just as nuanced and dynamic as the people it represents.
The flag has taken on many different forms over the years as it evolves to speak for more marginalized communities, but it remains a peaceful and artistic form of protest. One that always seems to get the message across.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
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A lucky ‘metal detectorist’ found the Sheriff of Nottingham’s ring, valued at $11,000
Yes, that Sheriff of Nottingham.
If you know the song, sing along!
“Robin Hood and Little John, walking through the forest/Laughing back and forth at what the other’n has to say/Reminiscing this and that and having such a good time/Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day…
“Never ever thinking there was danger in the water/They were drinking, they just guzzled it down/Never dreaming that a scheming sheriff and his posse/Was a-watching them and gathering around.”
There never was a greater set of foes than Robin Hood and that evil Sheriff, whose greed was even more legendary than Robin Hood’s archery skills.
A metal detectorist just found the Sheriff’s ring
In a deliciously ironic turn of fate, a retired merchant navy engineer in England has found a treasure that would have made his country’s most popular folk hero proud. Graham Harrison, a 65-year-old metal detector enthusiast, discovered a gold signet ring that once belonged to the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The discovery was made on a farm in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, 26.9 miles from Sherwood Forest. The forest is known worldwide for being the mythological home of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. A central road that traversed the forest was notorious in Medieval times for being an easy place for bandits to rob travelers going to and from London.
Today, the forest is a designated National Nature Reserve. It contains ancient oaks that date back thousands of years, making it an important conservation area.
“It was the first big dig after lockdown on a glorious day. We were searching two fields. Other detectorists kept finding hammered coins but I’d found nothing,” Harrison said according to the Daily Mail. “Then I suddenly got a signal. I dug up a clod of earth but couldn’t see anything. I kept breaking up the clod and, on the last break, a gold ring was shining at me. I broke out into a gold dance.”
Harrison sent the ring to the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme to have it authenticated.
After doing some research they found that it was once owned by Sir Matthew Jenison, who was the Sheriff of Nottingham between 1683 and 1684.
The first accounts of Robin Hood, then known as Robyn Hode, first appear as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, a few hundred years before Sir Matthew served as sheriff.
But there’s no doubt that the archer and leader of Merry Men would have been delighted to know that an everyday guy came into possession of the Sheriff of Nottingham’s ring.
Sir Matthew was knighted in 1683 and acted as a commissioner to examine decaying trees in Sherwood Forest. He was later elected to Parliament in 1701. However, a series of lawsuits over shady land dealings would eventually be his ruin and he’d die in prison in 1734.
The gold signet ring bears the coat of arms of the Jenison family, who were known for getting rich off a treasure trove of valuables left for safekeeping during the English Civil War.
The valuables were never claimed, so the Jenisons took them for themselves.
Was Robin Hood a real person?
The whole thing makes you question how much of the legend of Robin Hood is actually true. Experts debate whether Robin Hood stories are based on one person or accounts of multiple different people. Various versions of the mythology begin and end in different time periods, but all share some similarities: Namely, Robin Hood shooting a bow and arrow and being constantly at odds with the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.
In the end, Robin Hood was said to have been murdered by his aunt. As he bled to death, “Little John placed Robin’s bow in his hand and carried him to a window from where Robin managed to loose one arrow. Robin asked Little John to bury him where the arrow landed, which he duly did. … A mound in Kirklees Park, within bow-shot of the house, can still be seen and is said to be his last resting place,” according to Historic UK.
Another site, a cemetery in Yorkshire, features a tombstone that reads:
Here underneath this little stone
Lies Robert, Earl of Huntingdon
Ne’er [never] archer was as he so good
And people called him Robin Hood
Such outlaws as he and his men
Will England never see again.Believe it or not, that wasn’t the only ring
What makes the story even more remarkable is that a second ring found at the same site five minutes before Harrison’s discovery was sold at auction in 2023. The circa 1560 posy ring, inscribed with the words “I Meane Ryght,” was found by water company worker Andy Taylor and is also believed to have belonged to a member of the Jenison family.
What happened to the ring after it was found
As for Harrison, he decided that he would sell the ring to someone who appreciates its importance.
“There can’t be many people who’ve found anything like that. I’m only selling it because it’s been stuck in a drawer,” Harrison said. “I hope it will go to someone who will appreciate its historical value.” It was sold at auction by Hansons Auctions for £8,500 ($11,115).
You can witness the intense final moments of the auction here:
Let’s hope that the man who sold the ring does what Robin Hood would have done with a piece of jewelry that adorned the hand of a nobleman whose family came into money by taking other people’s loot. Surely, he’d take the proceeds from the auction and give them to the poor.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
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Elderly people are asked to define ‘love,’ and their answers are truly raw and heartfelt
“Love isn’t just something that happens to you. It’s something you have to nourish.”
When we’re young, we’re so often overwhelmed by new love. The beginnings of things can feel like we’re being whisked into another dimension, and then if or when it falls apart, those crashes can feel devastating. With time, the hope is that wisdom follows.
After a lifetime of experience—big loves and heartbreaks—older people often have a clearer rearview mirror when it comes to love.
William Rossy (who uses the name @Sprouht on social media) has over one million subscribers on YouTube alone and claims to have interviewed the elderly in “35 countries.” (He was even fortunate enough to interview Dalai Lama for life advice.) He asks people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s to share their deepest thoughts with questions like, “What’s a big regret you have that taught you a valuable lesson?” “What advice would you have for younger generations?” And, powerfully, “How would you define love?”
A woman in her 80s answers, “Love, to me, is a commitment. It isn’t just something that happens to you. Ya know, like ‘Pow—LOVE!’ It’s something you work at, something you have to nourish.” Her friend adds, “You grow into it; it doesn’t just happen at first sight.”Of her third (and she says hopefully “final”) husband, she says, “We both had a lot of baggage. We met when we were 72, so you’re gonna have a lot of baggage. So you give each other a generous baggage allowance.” She adds, “It’s not easy to share your life with a person. You’re never gonna have the exact same response to things. Recognizing that your point of view may not be the other person’s point of view. A lot of tolerance.”
A man in his 90s, who has been married for 67 years, answers that the secret to such a long relationship has been “compromise.” Adding, “No question. Very few things in life are worth fighting over. I want to go downtown, and she wants to go to Westmount Square. So? We went to Westmount Square, and I’m very happy.”
When he’s specifically asked to “define the word love,” he answers, “Extreme respect and caring. No more than that. The physical side dies early.”
People in the same age range are asked about life regrets; again, the answers are truly eye-opening. One woman mentions she didn’t have children. When pushed to answer, she first says she has no regrets, but when asked, “Did you ever regret it?” she answers, “I did feel it was something I should have, perhaps, done. But I wasn’t cut out for it.” Someone counters in the comments, “Admitting you are not cut out for children despite wanting them shows massive self-awareness. It is better to not have them than to have them and not look after them properly.”
One man, whose wife passed away after a 55-year marriage, advises the younger generations to always talk. “Sit down and talk, no matter the disagreement.”
Near the end of the clip, Rossy references a dear friend in Montreal who painted a drawing of an older person sitting on a bench with a younger one. He shows the painting to the elderly people he’s speaking with and asks, “What advice would you give to me on living a great life? Maybe something you wish me and people my age would know a little sooner?”
One woman very directly answers, “Make a point of liking and knowing as many people as you can.”
A 96-year-old woman, as she holds her cute dog, says, “Look after yourself. Take care of yourself. Don’t abuse yourself.”
Another discusses the importance of travel. “Keep your options open. Travel is a big way to open your mind. Make sure that whatever you do in life, you have some international travel.”
A man seconds the travel advice. “Travel. Expose yourself. And for God’s sake, be tolerant.”
And lastly, a woman quite simply admits, “I’ve kind of learned that I don’t like to give advice. Because I don’t actually like it when people give me advice. I don’t have any advice, but I’ve got a lot of experience.”
This article originally appeared 6 months ago. It has been updated.
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After a 7’1” man was uncomfortable on a plane, a ‘very short’ woman came to his rescue
“Shout out to my plane seat angel!”
At a towering 7’1”, Beau Brown has a huge problem. As a literal giant, Beau has to continually duck under door frames, hunt extensively for shoe stores that offer size 18, and account for legroom everywhere he goes. As he was going on a five hour long flight, he paid an extra $150 for a Delta Comfort Plus seat for enough legroom to just modestly fit inside the plane. Unfortunately, it not only didn’t provide enough legroom, but he had to keep his neck bent to fit under the overhead bin above him. “Luckily, there was an angel in front of me,” said Beau.
The person sitting next to Beau remarked, “Dude, you barely fit in this one,” as Beau took it all in good nature, and chatted with his seat neighbor and their cute dog. Overhearing their conversation and seeing Beau’s discomfort, a petite woman sitting right in front of Beau offered him her exit row seat.
“Do you want to switch seats with me?” the woman asked. “I’m very short.”
Beau accepted her offer and graciously thanked her. The woman even picked up the chocolate bar he accidentally dropped in the aisle and gave it to him as he switched seats. While it wasn’t enough room for a fully comfortable plane ride, it was significantly better and safer for him to sit there.
“That was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me on a plane,” said Beau.
This isn’t the first time Beau has had seat issues on planes. In 2021, he was kicked off his flight for being too tall and had to go on a different flight with a bigger plane. Even a first class seat didn’t fit him.
The comments lauded this act of generosity:
“I love that you didn’t ASK anyone to switch seats and throw a fit when they say no, like we see so often nowadays. And she was so sweet to offer! This is how humans should treat each other!”
“Dang you lucked out with the people around you at least.”
“It’s so nice to see somebody doing something nice for once, instead of rage bait.”
“Shout out to the girl!! How nice of her, nice people don’t get enough acclaim.”
“How kind of her, and you’re so sweet how appreciative you are.”
Other commenters sympathized with Beau’s plight about height on flights:
“At 6’3″, I struggle on economy these days. I can’t imagine flying anything other than business/first at your size.”
“I’m 6’9” and I can empathize.”
“It’s rough enough at 6’ with my height in my legs. I can’t imagine another foot to fold in. Bless her.”
“Dude, I’m 6’2 and am the most uncomfortable on planes. I can’t imagine being even an inch taller let alone a foot.”
“My husband travels almost weekly for work and has this constant battle as well and he is 6’10”! I think if your ID says a height above a certain point you should NOT be charged for needing extra room to exist!”
All tall puns aside, the height issue on planes is pretty big. It’s not just a problem with super-tall folks like Beau, but also with people who are even a foot shorter than him. With the average male height being 5’9”, this means that anyone 5’11” and above is considered “tall.” Anyone above that height has to pay more for a seat that modestly fits them, not just for comfort reasons but safety reasons as well. Not only that, but they are competing with others to get to those few extra space seats as more airlines have shrunken them to accommodate more passengers per flight to sell more tickets.
Let’s let this story be one of cooperation between the tall and the short. For every shelf reached for a shorter person by a taller person, a dropped item is picked up by a person closer to the ground. For every tiny adult shoe size at a store, an above-average size is offered at the same price. For every seat switched on an airplane so a tall person can be more comfortable, a seat could be switched with taller person at a concert or movie theater so the shorter person can see. A little kindness can make a big difference regardless of size.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
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Gen Xers recall how young we were when we started babysitting. It’s even blowing our own minds.
What were the adults thinking?
Much has been made of the contrast between Gen X and Gen Z/Gen Alpha childhoods, but some differences feel more significant than others.
Obviously, Gen X didn’t have smartphones, social media, or even the Internet during our formative years. We roamed and explored our towns with little to no adult supervision. We came home when the streetlights went on or when our parents came to find us after the television PSA that said, “Parents, it’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your kids are?“
Some realities of Gen X childhood sound made up to younger generations, but some even sound bonkers to our own adult ears. Topping that list is how old so many of us were when we started babysitting. Some of us have had to check in with one another to make sure our memories are correct. Was I really putting someone else’s babies to bed at age 11?
Yes, I was. And so were countless other preteens.
Gen Xers regularly started babysitting as young as age 8
“I need you to back me up,” wrote a Gen Xer on TikTok. “Did we not babysit entire families as children? I was 11 with zero training and full responsibility for 3 kids and an infant…paid $5 and a party pizza…My kids don’t believe me. My parents don’t recall.”
Other Gen Xers do recall, and we’re a bit baffled by it. It didn’t seem all that odd to us at the time. But looking back, especially as parents ourselves, who let us do that? Check out these examples from TikTok, which are in no way out of the ordinary:
“The day after my 10th birthday the neighbors down the street were excited I was finally old enough to babysit their kids. Their kids were 3 and 5. Apparently your age hitting double digits was all the qualifications needed.”
“Yup! 11 and babysat a newborn! Like what!? 🤣 Why did they let and why did my parents let me?”
“I was 10 watching 4 kids and I had to make dinner. 😂”
“Yes! I was about 12 and babysat 3 kids – one was an infant and I had zero training. I was paid $2-3 an hour.”
“Yep I had a neighbor kid I took care of starting at 8. She was 2.”
“I was 11 watching a 2 and 3 year old. Made meals, changed diapers, gave baths. Zero training or babysitting classes taken.”
“I was 8 and babysitting 2 nephews from one brother and 3 from another… all under the age of 5.”
“I was 9 and holding it down with a 4, 2, and newborn. The ‘80s were wild!!!!”
“I started babysitting my 3 year old and 6 month old brothers when I was 8. My mom went back to school and I was in charge on weekends and all summer.”
Gen X has spent most of its lives in caretaking roles
Being full-on babysitters at age eight is genuinely wild, considering how most kids that age today have their own babysitters. Even knowing how different our childhoods were from the digital-native generations, having an eight- or nine-year-old caring for babies and toddlers feels like questionable decision-making on the part of all adults involved.
As a Gen Xer, I was babysitting other people’s kids by age 11. Even though I was quite mature for my age, that seems awfully young to me now. I’m sure preteens babysitting still happens, but it’s definitely not the norm.
And that’s probably a good thing. On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with kids learning responsibility at a young age. On the other hand, if you’re a Gen Xer who started babysitting at age eight and is a parent now, you’ve likely spent nearly all of your life in a caretaking role. And you’re likely continuing in that role both with your young adult kids and your aging parents.
Was Gen X childhood or Gen Z childhood healthier?
There are a lot of questions we can raise in hindsight. Even if we were capable of babysitting kids not much younger than ourselves, were we any good at it? Was it healthy for us or for those kids? Did the expectations placed on us help us learn responsibility? Or did some of us have adult responsibilities placed on us too early?
We can ask the flip side of the same questions about younger generations. Have we expected too little of them? Has protecting their childhoods prevented them from learning responsibility? Is it healthy for kids to be constantly supervised? Did Gen X grow up and swing the pendulum too far the other way in raising Gen Z?
Can we really even answer those questions? Gen X has been called the least parented generation, which has certainly led to some conflicting perspectives. Our childhoods are often touted as being “carefree” when viewed through rose-colored glasses. But for many Gen Xers, especially women, the reality was more like “underparented while being expected to take on parenting responsibilities.”
In many ways, Gen X childhood was pretty great, but the premature babysitting thing was “legit sus,” as our kids would say. What were the adults thinking? Is it too late to ask?
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Firefighters broke out their hoses to save 25 million bees from an overheating truck
480 hives were minutes away from dying in the hot sun.
Bees can fly, but that doesn’t mean they don’t sometimes need a ride. In fact, massive colonies of bees and their beehives are often shipped around the country by truck to help pollinate crops. They’re a crucial cog in our food supply chain, and these commutes are critically important.
The rides, however, don’t come without their risks.
Truck carrying 480 beehives breaks down and begins to overheat
One such shipment was on its way through Utah, navigating a mountain pass near Salt Lake City, when the truck carrying hundreds of hives broke down.
The weather was hot, and without a running engine or airflow from the movement of the vehicle, the inside of the trailer was rapidly heating up.
Twenty-five million bees—tens of thousands per hive—were inside and were minutes away from dying.
A mechanic arrived to work on the truck, but there was no telling how long it would take to get things moving again. Luckily, the Millcreek Fire Department and the Unified Fire Authority also happened to arrive. While they weren’t going to be much help getting the engine going again, they had a brilliant idea to help keep the bees safe in the meantime.
Firefighters drench the trailer with hoses to keep the bees inside cool
Quick-thinking fire authorities used their equipment to mist and spray the truck, keeping it cool in the hot sun.
One neat cooperative detail: no firefighters were stung during the operation. In the photos and footage provided by Unified Fire Authority, bees are clearly seen flying around outside the trailer. That’s because the breathable mesh keeps the hives and most of the colony inside, but the bees need airflow while the truck is moving, so many of them slip in and out during the journey.
In the end, the truck got moving again, and not a single bee—nor firefighter—was harmed.
Heartwarming story was almost a devastating loss
Pesticides and habitat loss have wreaked havoc on wild bee populations. Fair Planet notes that about 80% of flowering plants, including many fruits and vegetables, depend on pollinators like bees to reproduce. So while bees can sometimes be viewed as a nuisance or pest by humans, their presence is critical to the natural world around us—and our food supply.
Managed honeybee populations are doing better than wild ones, but the death of 25 million bees would still have been a significant loss. Not only would it represent a six-figure cost and be tragic in its own right, it would put the crops they were on their way to pollinate at risk.
Kudos to the quick thinking of the Unified Fire Authority and the Millcreek Fire Department, and to their willingness to help, even in unusual ways.
