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Kids drew us their favorite things in the world, and their pictures are fantastic.

Butterflies, family, and painting on canvas: These are a few of their favorite things.

What's your favorite thing in the world? Quick, say it out loud.

Now think back — would you have given the same answer when you were a teenager? A little kid? Probably not, right?

Let's be real: The grown-up world can be pretty complicated. In the rush and stress of life, it can be hard to remember what matters most and what always makes us happy. It was easier to figure that stuff out when we were kids.


That's why we asked our Upworthy fans on Facebook to give their kids a little homework last week: to draw their favorite thing in the world.

We were thrilled with the responses. So much so that we're sharing them right here, right now:

1. Angela, age 7, loves her cat Sassy Pants.

2. 8-year-old Brooke loves art in all its forms.

3. Carly, age 8, adores her family, including their two adorable dogs.

4. 6-year-old Claire couldn't pick one favorite animal from these three — and neither could we!

5. Connor, age 4, knows that home is where his heart is.

6. Damien's mom tells us that this 3-year-old loves Metallica — especially their band logo.

7. 4-year-old Ella loves her best friend Rexy. So do we.

8. 5-year-old Eliza loves her family more than anything.

9. 8-year-old Ethan is very particular about his favorite ice cream. Wouldn't you be?

10. Gabriel, age 6, says his mom is his favorite thing in the world.

11. 5-year-old Hawthorne picked the original Fab Four, The Beatles, as her favorite thing.

12. Isabella is 6 years old and loves painting more than anything else.

13. 14-year-old Jasmine's favorite thing is her "artistic talent."

Jasmine's mom tells us that her daughter hopes to become a tattoo artist one day, so save some skin space, fans!

14. Jasper is 5 and says his mom is his favorite of all.

15. 6-year-old Jessica picks butterflies as her favorite thing in the world.

The little "I love you Daddy" in the top right corner of the illustration is giving us ALL THE FEELS.

16. 7-year-old Kyle thinks his mom and dad are hearts and stars above the rest.

17. Laiba is 11 and loves drawing "Hunger Games" hero Katniss Everdeen most of all.

18. Marley is 10 and says gymnastics make her jump for joy.

19. 5-year-old Melody's tribute to her favorite thing is making us hungry.

20. 3-year-old Pearl is very particular about her favorite things: a glass of Coke with a straw and a bowl of popcorn.

21. 8-year-old Quinn picks football as his favorite.

Don't get competitive Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers fans! Quinn has you both with the same score.

22. 5-year-old RJ says Lego is the best of all.

23. Ryker is 6 and loves holidays — like Easter — more than anything else.

24. 11-year-old Sara says both of her pets are #1.

From left to right: Bobo and Dobby.

25. Sara is 7 and a proud member of the ice cream-loving crew.

26. 8-year-old Simone couldn't "B" more excited about her three favorites: bees, butterflies, and bedtime.

27. 5-year-old Stella is on a first-name basis with her favorite person: her mom.

28. Tevye is 8 and loves art more than anything else in the world.

Thanks so much to all our Facebook fans who participated in this little experiment! Let's do it again sometime.

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.

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Joy

5-star Scottish resort offers whimsical afternoon tea experience with 'naughty sheep'

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes tea in the garden with adorably rude guests.

Cameron House/Naughty Sheep

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes a unique sheep encounter.

Remember when "goat yoga" was all the rage? And then "cow cuddling" and "turkey cuddling" made everyone's bucket lists?

Now we can add "nuzzling with naughty sheep" to the mix, but with a fancy Scottish twist.

Less than an hour from Glasgow, Scotland, the Cameron House resort sits on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, looking as if it were plucked straight out of a fairy tale. Sprawling green grounds, gorgeous lake views and a four-story castled mansion greet guests as their "home away from home" (only better), and a perusal of the reviews show guests raving about the 5-star resort's elegance, beauty and exceptional service.

I mean, just look at this place:

drone view of cameron house grounds and lakeCameron House sit on Lake Lochmond in Scotland.Cameron House


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A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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Wait, so 90's fashion is in, but 90's hair is out?

Every era has its own version of what’s attractive. And very rarely does that aesthetic hold power with the following generation. In fact, it often becomes the opposite of cool.

Just think of Elvis. He might have been a universal sex symbol for a time, but it also wasn’t long before his pompadour became passé. Same goes for Paul Newman’s rugged manliness, David Cassidy’s babyface, Tom Selleck’s mustache. Indeed, for everything a season.

Which brings us to the 90s. The age of beach blonde surfer boys (real surfing skills not required, but a plus). Of flannel, lots of flannel, and super chiseled bodies. Let’s not forget this was the dawning of the term “metrosexual,” and also the time period that brought us that Calvin Klein ad with Mark Wahlburg.

How exactly would these guys measure up with the Gen Z kids today?

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popular

A wild Eurasian crow befriended a toddler and won't leave his side

Crows are so much smarter than we think.

A Eurasian crow.

A family from Denmark has created a touching video montage documenting their unique friendship with a wild Eurasian crow. This crow, affectionately named Russell, has become an honorary member of their household, forming special bonds with each family member, including the pets.

However, the crow's relationship with their son, 2-year-old Otto, is truly extraordinary. “They could spend hours just playing,” Otto’s mother, Laerke Luna, says in a video shared by The Dodo. "When Otto is outside, he will never leave Otto’s side.”

Russell, the free-spirited crow, ventures away from the family's home from time to time, but never for too long. He always comes back and announces his return by tapping on the door, swooping in to lounge on the sofa, or awaiting Otto's return from school atop their roof.

“When we are inside, he will sit inside the window because he wants Otto to go outside with him,” Laerke said.

The family’s relationship with Russell didn’t come out of nowhere. When Russell was a young bird, he had health problems so the family took him and nursed the bird back to health. Eventually, they witnessed his first attempts to fly.

Recently, Russell became friends with another family member, their second child, Hedwig. Although he does get a little annoyed with the bird’s frequent attempts to nab his pacifier.

Even though it’s rare for humans to strike up such a close bond with a crow, according to research, it’s not that surprising. Audubon says that crows are “some of the smartest animals in the world” with an intelligence “on par with chimpanzees.” They are also very social and family-oriented, so no wonder Russell loves Otto and his family.

Crow Named Russell Waits For His Favorite Kid To Get Home From School | The Dodo


Learning

Why you shouldn't throw your dishwasher pod into the bottom of your dishwasher

Dishwashers actually use the dirty water to know how to wash your dishes.

Photos by cottonbro studio and PhotoMIX Ltd. via Canva

Why your detergent shouldn't go in the bottom of the dishwasher

There always seem to be something going on with the pods and powders you're supposed to use in the dishwasher to clean your dishes. Either the pods don't dissolve completely or the powder gets all goopy and hard, never really fully dispensing into the dishwasher.

The inconsistency in product dispensing can leave you wondering if the dishes are even getting cleaned, causing some to toss the detergent pod into the bottom of the dishwasher. It would seem that placing the detergent at the bottom would allow for it to actually reach your dirty dishes. But Melissa Pateras, a domestic expert, explains that doing it that way isn't doing what you think it's doing.

Pateras actually breaks down exactly how dishwashers work to clean your dishes while explaining why putting the detergent on the bottom is ineffective.

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